Becoming Mrs Malfoy
by Geiko
Summary: Hermione is invited to a wizard convention and finds herself engaged to her enemy afterwards.Draco is frightened to become a Death Eater so he takes advantage of the mudblood s drunkness.Together they find out that the other is not what they thought to be
1. Chapter 1

Becoming Misses Malfoy

**1**

It all started with a letter – an invitation. A convention for privileged wizards and witches – the future elite – and they wanted her, Hermione Granger – a muggle-born, to participate. Of course the best about this was the place it would be at. A tropical island. She would not even have to pay for the weeks in the first class hotel. Everything was arranged and paid. The only thing she had to do was to touch the international port key, which they had sent with the letter, at the right time. And according to the saying "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" Hermione decided that a summer holiday surrounded by the greatest wizards to be will be just right.

So there she was and she stood out, dressed simply in short jeans and a white top between all these fancily dressed people. The clothes the people were wearing positively screamed _expensive_ at her.

Also the amount of luggage some arrived with was more than five times what she had brought with her. It seemed that there were young wizards and witches from all over the world. This she concluded because she barely recognized any of the many languages spoken around her. But to her surprise most of them knew each other which left her as an outcast.

She had been sure that Harry had been invited as well but that was a false assumption it seemed.

Slowly she headed towards the reception to get the key to her room. Waiting there for the receptionist to notice her she flinched when a big hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Hermi- owh- ny! You vere invited as vell?", a familiar low voice said. She turned around to find a smiling Viktor Krum behind her.

"Viktor!", she exclaimed and flung her arms around his broad neck to hug him.

When ending the embrace it had become silent around them and many girls shot dangerous glances in her direction. This action Hermione would have understood if only she had known what this convention was really about and that she was the only person Viktor had cared to acknowledge and even more to greet and hug. It merely mattered to her that she knew at least someone at this place. She agreed to meet him at the reception in an hour again to explore the hotel together after she had been into her room.

Well, Hermione would not call what she found when she opened the door a room but rather a flat, a quite luxurious one as well. In the first room she entered there was a big couch with a small wooden table in front of it. The room had big windows from where you could see the sea. It was beautiful.

Walking down the hall which was connected to the first room Hermione opened one door after another, left in awe by each one of them.

The first was her walk-in closet in which she would be able to fit her clothes as well as all the clothes the Weasleys possessed and that meant something. She was so in awe when she saw the spacious room that she let her luggage drop to the floor and as soon as it made contact it snapped open and the content flew around – the clothes placing themselves in the closet, all other things disappearing from the room. Although she should be worried for her things or even upset Hermione was happy. She loved magical places and this one was so full of it.

Quickly she exited the room and opened the next door to reveal room which had instead of a carpet pillows everywhere to cover the floor and a long shelf filled with books and stones of which Hermione knew that they helped meditating. She recognized that the books she had brought with her were on a neat stack on a small table in the middle of the room. Taking her time looking at all the books Hermione almost forgot about the last door.

Almost.

The last door led to the bedroom. The bed could fit the whole Weasley family, Hermione could have sworn and it was so soft yet not too soft when she flung herself onto it. Only when she got up from her heavenly bed did she see the door know in the wall opposite to her.

It was the bathroom. There was a huge bathtub, which could almost be considered a tiny indoor pool, a rain shower and a great mirror.

Strolling back into the bedroom she could see the big pool area outside with Viktor standing near a bar apparently only wearing swimwear. It was indeed the perfect weather to swim and the pools looked very inviting so she decided to change into her bikini and a white summer dress.

Grabbing her sun glasses she saw a small note in her closet which informed her that she could rent dresses in this hotel. She took a good look at the few clothes she had brought with her. Yes, she had dresses with her but only one seemed good enough for this convention so she put the note back where she could see it.

Down at the pool she was already greeted with a "Hermi-owh-ny! Over here" from afar by Krum and she was glad that she wore her sun glasses because otherwise her blush would have been more obviously showing. Krum´s body sure was impressive.

**/ so this is the first chapter. Hope you like it although it´s very short and I have to say that in this story I will not make every chapter equally long. No Draco yet but he´ll make his appearance soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

2

She neared the group at the bar and some of Krum eyed her from head to toe approvingly while the girls shot her jealous glances, all of which Hermione took no notice.

"Sorry that I did not vait at the reception." As she smiled in return she could see that also Krum smiled back.

"Well, I made you wait pretty long." Krum moved to her side and placed his huge hand on her shoulder.

"Those are my friends Vladimir and Pavel, Hermi–owh-ny." The two guys mentioned greeted her with a nod of their heads. Afterwards they said something to Viktor which Hermione could not understand but it seemed that he did not like it because he barked something back and his grip on her shoulder tightened for the blink of a second. From then on every time they spoke to Hermione they looked at Krum first before they even dared to open their mouths. Most of their conversation was led by Hermione telling them about Hogwarts and the Triwizard Tournament – and of course the Yule Ball. Once or twice they asked her something about Harry which made her remember that she missed her friends quite much. So she decided to read a little and send her friends a letter for both of them stayed at the Burrow.

Before she left the group Krum said: "Ve vill see you at dinner. Do you vant to sit at our table?" Hermione nodded and walked off to the beach chairs near the pool to lie down.

She did not pay much attention to the people around her as did they so she could peacefully read her aritmancy book. Yet it did not last long since an older Asian woman sat down next to her and began a conversation. Although she had been disturbed by this woman Hermione did not mind it for the woman did know quite much and had really interesting opinions. She learned that the woman had a great collection of rare aritmancy books. While they talked Hermione fully forgot about her letter writing. The rest of her day she spent by talking to various women, the topic turning by long to their sons.

It was because of one of these women that Hermione was running late for dinner. She had not even have time enough to think about what to wear but had merely grabbed the closest dress – sky blue dress that reached down to her knees.

If there is anything worthy to be called flying down the stairs it is what Hermione did: barely touching the steps and out of habit skipping one of them. This exactly was her mistake because in her hurry she missteped and fell. Luckily, she did not hit the hard floor but smashed against a muscled torso.

"Uh, I´m sorry.", she stumbled while straightening her dress. Her eyes slowly wandered from his simple but elegant black shoes over his black pants to his black suit vest with its green embroidery to his collar bone which was revealed due to the open buttons of his shirt and finally to his face. It was DracoBloodyMalfoy and she had even made the effort to brush one of her loose strands behind her ear in an attempt to look cute.

She could see the word before he spoke it. "_Mudblood_. Wouldn´t have thought that the wizard society would stoop so low as to invite you here." With saying that he pushed her away from him.

"And look what you have done. Now I have to wash my hands to get rid of your filth." For once in her life Hermione was speechless, not because she did not know anything to counter but because the whole situation was too much. Of all places she had to spend her holidays with Malfoy.

"And how cheap you look." He made a face as if he had something disgusting in his mouth. "The slutty look sure works on stupid ones like Krum but you cannot impress someone with self esteem as me." Only then did she realize that one of her straps hung loosely around her shoulder. Embarrassed she moved it up again and crossed her arms over her chest to protect it from his flippant eyes.

"Ts… you are so-"His further insult was interrupted by a woman´s voice calling his name. In the blink of an eye his face was emotionless and he strode away without ending his sentence. Although the danger was over Hermione kept standing at the exact spot where he left her for quite some time before she joined Krum and his friends.

* * *

><p><strong> so this is the second chapter. I hope you got the clue I gave you on what this convention really is about. **

**One question: would you like me to describe their clothes a little more?  
><strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Becoming Misses Malfoy

3

She had not seen Malfoy again that night and hoped that it would stay that way. Clearly this hope had to be disappointed which she learned during the following days. It started right away the day after her stair incident.

That day she cursed herself for wanting to swim for she had not found the time the day before. She cursed herself for being such an early riser.

So it happened that she went down to the pools to take a swim before everyone else had even risen from their sleep. Everything had started out so beautifully. It was quiet and peaceful and the early light of the sun painted everything in lovely colors. The water was refreshing.

She had just swum several laps when there was a shadow of a person standing at the pool over her. She had not even fully recognized that the shadow was there when a huge pain spread in her head. Without thinking she dug out of the water her arms flailing around, not without hitting whoever had been _smart_ enough to jump into the water without looking first.

A whine could be heard and she knew immediately who had jumped onto her – of course it had to be Malfoy. In the blink of a second she stopped thrashing her arms around and glared at the other person in the pool. Yet she could not keep this look up for long for blood was flowing out of his nose, lots of it. "Merlin! Get out of the water!", she commanded him but only got an agitated stare from him.

"You can´t tell me what to do.", he snarled forgetting the pain in his nose for a second. A deep sigh escaped her throat.

"Seriously, Malfoy, this is not the time for you to be such a stubborn _kid_." Without waiting for his reply she got out of the pool. Not in the mood to argue with him she changed the tone of her voice from angry and commanding to somewhat neutral.

"Come on, I just want to heal your nose." His expression became even more disgusted at the thought of her healing him and he spat: "Look what you´ve done to me. Who tells me that you won´t make it worse, the mudblood you are."

Again anger flashed up in her eyes, she did not like to be called that name or that he doubted her competence as witch. That moment she would have loved to turn around and leave him to bleed to his death, that arrogant prat. But being the person she was she did not leave but went to her bag to fetch her wand.

Realizing that he would not come out of the water of his own an idea came to her mind. "And who tells you that I won´t let you boil in the pool?", she threatened and by the look he gave her she knew he had bought it.

A mischievous grin played around her lips. Slowly she pointed her wand at the pool. When she made a circular movement with it she saw him flinch and that was all the satisfaction she needed. The water did not turn hot but he was levitated out of it and when he hover over one of the beach chairs she let him fall onto it which made him hiss.

Since she knew that he would not let him heal him she grabbed his face with one hand, squashing his cheeks, and pointed her wand at his nose.

"Damn it! Hold still!" She tightened her grip on his face. His eyes were full of hatred.

"Episkey." It made a cracking sound and then his nose got back its pointy form. Hesitantly he pinched the bridge of his nose then snarled.

"How dare you to touch me. This better is healed well. Wouldn´t want to look as ugly as you."

She rolled her eyes, used to his insults and grabbed her big cloth. She took two ends and crossed them before she tied them together behind her neck, making it look like a short dress.

"Ungrateful asshole!", she snapped and strode away. Again she cursed herself, this time for being too nice and him for being just the kind of person he was.

The rest of that day she did not see his pointy face again and was glad for it and the next day started just as Malfoy-free, yet this changed – of course.

It had been in the spa. It sure was wonderful that she had been invited to this hotel where she had to pay for nothing so she took advantage of it and had one of those skilled Indian employees of the hotel massage her. It was heaven. He found every spot and simply kneaded the stress away. But again she had to curse herself. She had not found it necessary to get into one of those private rooms because although the guy did a wonderful job she had not liked how he looked her up.

So there she was enjoying her massage when one sentence brought back all those stress knots: "You sure must be desperate, Granger, getting off by having a massage. Your stupid moans make me want to puke." Her paradise of pleasure was destroyed and she wanted nothing more than to storm off and bringing as much distance as possible between herself and Malfoy.

Too bad she could not do that, after all she was topless. How else could the Indian guy be able to give her a proper massage? Not even turning her head to face in the opposite direction was an option because then she would have to lift her upper body off the massage table. She was stuck and all pleasure was gone. Her wand, that was what she wanted right now but the spa was a wand-free zone. Having no other option she screw up her eyes and tried very hard to ignore the fact that her school nemesis was lying right next to her. The massage had lasted another hour and it had been hell.

Everything had to become even worse on Thursday.

Never would she have imagined that there existed someone more horrible and disgusting than Draco Malfoy but clearly she had been mistaken. This she had to learn when Cormac McLaggen approached her.

He was the most self-absorb person she knew. He was all about how famous his uncle is and how great he was at playing Quidditch, his hair, his character and a lot more things about himself. It was as if he was singing an ode to his own greatness. And that was what he was not: great.

Making a lame excuse to get rid of him Hermione pretended to be thirsty and headed for the bar. Unfortunately he followed her. McLaggen truly was wonderous. When she arrived with him at the bar everyone separated themselves from the two so that Hermione had to talk to him or rather listen to his narcissistic speeches.

Her only way to escape now was to empty her glass while his was still full and run. That she did and suffered from massive brain freeze. Nonetheless she found the concentration to walk away. When she thought that she was save she turned for one last time and to her shock there was Cormac McLaggen, the dangler, nearing her.

She ran and jumped into the room where the people kept their things in lockers. Well, actually nobody used them since there was a safe in every room so this room was rarely occupied. This was common knowledge so she was not the only one who knew that. She stayed in the room her back pressed against the walls straining her ears to hear if Cormac had gone by. Even after she was sure that he was gone for good she stayed and soon she noticed that she was not the only one breathing heavily in the room.

Innocent as she was she was concerned for the person´s health so she scanned the dark room. There were two people to her right. A girl and a guy.

Her head was bent back and her back arched so that she could meet his better. The eyes of the girl were closed while she enjoyed her lover kissing her neck. A masculine hand was in her hair pulling slightly while hers where around his neck and playing with his. Her lips were glossy and slightly parted. Pants escaped her throat while he worked down her neck to her collar bone.

Watching his other hand find its way under her bikini top made Hermione gasp. This gasp drew the attention of the lover to her.

It was none other than Draco Malfoy. Even in the darkness of the room she could see his lust clouded eyes focusing on her, his trademark smirk forming on her lips while he had the audacity to move his hand from the girl´s hair down her side, to her hip and from there to the inside of her thigh. His eyes never left her, mocking her.

This was so embarrassing. As if walking in on lovers was not bad enough he had to give her that look that said: "Look, Granger, she is getting what you dream of. Not that she dreamt of doing that with him but she certainly had fantasy of the action itself.

Finally finding her strength she quickly fled the scene. For the rest of the day she stayed in her room not thinking that it would be save for her to go out.

**_/ so this is the third chapter. I felt so encouraged to write this by your comments, for which i´m really glad, and the favs/alerts._**

**_I will upload images of what the clothes should look like into my profile... well at least of what I imagine them to look like_**

**Review, please?**


	4. Chapter 4

Becoming Misses Malfoy

4

The night of the first ball came and Hermione sat in her closet gazing at the beautiful dress in front of her. She had taken the opportunity and had gone to the dress-rental in the hotel. The variety had been so great that she had spend hours in there with the adviser bringing her one after another and admiring her beauty. So here she sat, the Greek-style orange dress that she had thought way too daring hovering in front of her. Actually she had wanted a completely different dress but the adviser had called her a Greek goddess so often that she could not object.

It was Yule Ball all over again. Her hair was in smooth waves, her cheeks a rosy tone, her lashes long and black, and her lips glossy.

Even her dance partner would be the same. Although many of the sons of the influential women had asked her she had stuck with Victor who had already asked her the day they had arrived.

The material of the dress hugged every curve of her body. Hermione casted a quick fixing charm on the upper part so that she would not reveal too much by accident. Two leather straps were braided into her hair. Golden pendant earrings and a golden wristband gave her a finishing touch.

When she arrived in the ball room it was already quite crowded. The room was decorated with floating lantern in spring colors which gave it a nice atmosphere. Krum was nowhere to be seen so Hermione decided to get herself a drink and wait for him at the agreed place. It did not take long and she was joined by one of her acquaintances. Mrs. Zabini – a woman with dark skin, full red lips and gorgeous green eyes. She wore a dress that was purple on the outside and colorful on the inside.

"Hermione, nice to meet you here. You look amazing tonight." Blushing slightly Hermione greeted her friend. "So are you here alone or are you waiting for your partner?", she asked rather curiously. Hermione answered truthfully and got a meaningful "aha" as an answer.

"Well, then let´s wait together. I´m sure my son will arrive here any second. I have wanted to introduce him to you." Together they chatted about this and that until a tall guy with equally dark skin neared them.

"Ah. There he is.", Mrs. Zabini interrupted Hermione while her son came to stand next to her.

"This is my son Blaise." He smiled broadly at Hermione making her blush. Blaise sure was good-looking. "Nice to meet you, I´m Her-"

"Hermione Granger.", he completed her sentence which left her a little surprised. He had a big hand in which almost disappeared and his handshake was firm yet gentle.

"Now I feel a little awkward. Should I know you?" Her insecurity was met by friendliness.

"Don´t be awkward.", he said while touching her shoulder. "We are in the same year in Hogwarts but I keep myself in the back so it´s no wonder you don´t know me." This clearly made her feel only more awkward.

They were in the same year and still she did not recognize him one bit. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly she nibbled her lower lip in thought. If he was in the same year they had to have at least one subject together. _Think, Hermione, think_. No matter how intently she thought she could not remember him.

"Which house are you in?" Blaise was about to answer her question when Krum joined their group shooting him a jealous glare.

"Ah, I see. It´s Yule Ball all over again." Blaise smirked superiorly. "Well, I think it's time for us to go to our table before your girlfriend gets lonely, mother." Mrs. Zabini nodded and linked arms with her son. They were about to separate when Blaise spoke again.

"Hermione, I hope you will save the last dance for me.", he winked and she stuttered: "Um, sure."

"Then it´s a promise."

The rest of the evening went by in a blur. She had lots of fun and even Krum made an effort to talk more. As promised she saved the last dance for Blaise who appeared out of nowhere just in time.

After that her cheeks were rather flushed and she felt hot so she went to the balcony finding no other than Draco Malfoy standing there. Actually she wanted to go back inside right away but decided that she had as much a right to be there as he had. The night had been too wonderful for him to be able to ruin it.

They stood there together separated only by a few meters and still he did not care to say anything nasty. Something was off about him. He did not have this neutral expression but rather seemed deep in thought while gazing at the nearby sea. First she glanced at him every few seconds expecting him to be rude again but he did not, so soon she found herself watching him wondering why he behaved so strangely.

After a long silence with only the sound of the waves Draco sighed while combing through his silky platinum hair. His eyes were closed and his forehead wrinkled. He looked stressed. Afterwards he gazed at his glass, well actually that is what it looked like to Hermione, but actually he was gazing at the ring on his right thump which held his glass.

With one gulp he emptied his glass of fire whiskey and when he turned he finally realized that she was there. Hermione felt caught somehow.

"Nice dress, Granger.", he said and walked past her back inside. Draco Malfoy had just complimented her dress. This could only be a dream, a really weird one so.

**/ so this is chapter 4. I feel so eager to continue but I swear I will update CWP soon because I intend to upload a special christmas chapter on christmas so I have to finish the next chapter first ^^.**

**Thanks again for all the alerts and faves. You guys are wonderful.**

_**Review,please?**_


	5. Chapter 5

Becoming Misses Malfoy

5

After that night she saw him more often but only from afar and never did he even care to talk to her again. Krum was around her most of the time being very nice to her: making compliments, fetching her something to drink, staying silent while she read a book. Beside him Hermione did not have much company which was because Krum was scaring everyone else off with his angry glances.

This state only lasted until Wednesday evening though when she was awakened by someone knocking on her window. She had not expected an owl yet she opened the curtain without caring to throw over her dressing gown. It was not an owl but Krum on his broom blinking quite a lot.

"Viktor?", she asked incredulously.

"Hermi-owh-ny, vant to fly to the beach?"

"Wait a minute.", she said and closed the curtain again since she wanted to change into more suitable clothes for this occasion.

Having changed into her bikini, a simple top and shorts she returned to the window and only then she did realize that he had said _fly_ to the beach. Heights – she hated it and Krum could be the best flyer in the world she did not want to sit on his broom but here she stood, already changed, and could not make up some lame excuse. Krum just looked too happy that she had said yes that she could not disappoint him so she took a deep breath and flung her leg over his broom.

As soon as she sat Viktor dashed forwards which made her clung to his back, squeeze her eyes shut tight and squeal out loud.

"Not so fast! Not so fast!", she screamed into his ear but could feel that he only slowed down slightly so until her feet met solid ground again she stayed as she was. Had she opened her eyes she would have seen Draco with a girl on his broom and Blaise not too far away from her.

When they arrived tears stood in her eyes which she could not hide from Viktor who felt terribly bad now.

"It´s okay, Viktor. I´m fine now.", she tried to cheer him up with a smile.

Finally free of her fear she could take in the beauty of the beach. The water glistened in the moon light; everything was tinged in a bluish light.

They decided to join some others swimming in the sea, splashing water at each other, Hermione playfully ducking Krum under water several times.

"I vant to show you something." Krum smiled broadly before his head turned into that of a shark.

Offering her his hand he pointed downwards with the other. Hermione quickly casted a spell so that an air pocket formed around her head and took his hand. Without much effort he pulled her downwards. Darkness enclosed them slowly the water getting colder by the minute. From one second to the next Hermione could make out colorful light dots.

They were in some sort of underwater cave. The light came from the bottom of the cave and was reflected by little stones.

"Wow.", she breathed finally on the surface of the cave. His head turning back to its human form Krum looked deep into her eyes, his hand brushing a wet tress out of her face.

"This is so beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you are, Hermi-owh-ny.", he whispered in his husky voice and his face slowly inched closer to hers until their lips met. It was a soft and tender kiss which did not last long but still left Hermione in confusion.

She had been his girlfriend already once and it did not work out although it had been a wonderful time for her and to her a second try was not good either.

"Um, Viktor…" Although she knew that it would hurt him to be rejected it would be even worse of her to pretend that there still was a chance for them to be together like this.

"I-", she was cut off by him placing a rough finger over her lips.

"Let´s go back." Before she could reply anything his head was back to its shark form and her hand tightly grabbed into his. They dived back and Viktor headed straight back to the beach where a small bonfire was lit.

They separated, Viktor staring into the flames of the fire, Hermione going to fetch their towels. She was quite surprised when she found a letter on top of his. Taking the letter Krum frowned while reading its contents then looked worried at Hermione.

"I have to leave.", he simply stated and shouted something she did not understand to one of his Bulgarian friends.

"He vill bring you back to your room." Placing a placid kiss onto her forehead he turned and soon flew away with his broom at high speed.

The sun was already rising when someone huffed behind her.

"Oh man, seriously?" The voice was familiar, it was Blaise´s.

"What´s wrong?", she asked curiously amused by his annoyed look.

"He´s doing it again. Walking away and not coming back for hours, leaving me with the girl he had brought with him." He clicked with his tongue and glanced down at her.

"And why does _he_ do it?" Asking the name would have been too nosy so she stuck with this question.

"The hell I know. He´s been all melancholic the whole week and got annoyed quite easily with the girl. That´s the second time he does this and this time he even behaved weirder then usually, stupid git."

Taking sympathy for the guy Hermione said: "That´s really not nice."

"No, not at all. First he is all moody, then he´s silent and thinking and now _this_, damn Malfoy."

Had she really just heard him say that name? She had to have heard wrongly. Of course, her hearing was poking fun at her.

_**/ so this is chapter 5. I think next chapter will be a ball again with the happening you have all been waiting for. I hope I´ll be able to upload soon**_

_**btw: have also uploaded full new chapter of **_**"Cure the Wounds of the Past"**

_**Review, please ?**_


	6. Chapter 6

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

6

After Krum had left more male people approached her and mothers who had not spoken to her after the first ball suddenly gave her all their attention.

A lot of them asked her out for the ball and yet again she had to reject them all for she had already accepted Blaise´s proposal which had been most charming for he had stated: " If I cannot go with the most beautiful girl to this ball I will rather go alone. So will you accompany me, Hermione?" He sure knew how to choose the sweetest words to melt any kind of resistance away.

Although she did not see much of him for the rest of the week she still looked forward to spend the evening around and dance with him. She enjoyed her time without having to face Malfoy even once and meeting so many interesting people. Sure, she was sad that Viktor had had to leave but none the less she made the most of it and that was the greatest time she had ever had in wizarding society outside of Hogwarts.

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><p>Despite all the fun she had the day of the second great ball drew closer and she felt excited for she had chosen a really special dress for this occasion. She did not want only Blaise to say that she was the most beautiful girl but also to believe it and this dress would make it happen. Having only tried it on once she felt like a princess for usually she did not care too much about her looks but this dress gave her a special glow. No wonder at that because the dress was enchanted and a magnificent piece of clothing. She knew of no finer dress.<p>

Astonished by what clothes make out of people Hermione sat in front of the huge mirror in her _wardrobe _when she heard a knock on her door. It was Blaise who had promised to pick her up.

Taking only one glance at her he was speechless left to admire her otherwise hidden beauty. After looking her up from top to toe he smiled broadly.

"If that isn´t the most beautiful girl of the evening I don´t know beauty.", he complimented her and offered her his arm.

As contrasted with her dress he wore simple grey trousers and suit vest with a white shirt – no tie.

The ball room was decorated in silver this time, little crystals reflecting the light, a grand mirror as ceiling and the marvel floor polished to shine. Blaise led her to their table where his mother already waited for them to arrive and immediately complimented Hermione as well as Blaise for his choice in partner. They chatted delightfully while the others slowly gathered in the room.

Hermione fell silent when she saw three people approaching their table: Narzissa Malfoy, Draco Malfoy and a Slytherin girl. There was no doubt that they were going to sit at the table with them because Narzissa greeted Mrs. Zabini with an almost invisible nod and smile – well if you could call that a smile.

They arrived at the table and no word of greeting was exchanged, Malfoy merely pulled out the chair for his mother before he sat down himself without doing the same for his partner. Mrs. Malfoy´s eyes wandered from one face to the other and at the moment she glanced at Hermione she drew in a sharp breath.

"I see a new face has joined our round.", she stated and forced a smile upon her lips. She did not look pleasant at all with that expression but rather as if she was in pain.

Mrs. Zabini took turn to introduce her to her friend. "Narzissa, this is Hermione Granger."

At the mention of her name Malfoy´s eyes snapped into her direction glaringly. Although she knew that he had to be upset, annoyed and confused he did not show it on the outside.

"It´s nice to meet you.", Hermione said politely to which she got a: "Granger… sounds familiar."

That Draco might have mentioned her name in one of his rants at home did not surprise her although she never cared to mention him to her parents as her tormentor in school.

"That´s quite possible. I´m in the same year in Hogwarts as M- your son." His first name would not cross her lips but calling him by his family name would be considered so she played safe.

The woman shared a quick look with her son then returned her gaze back to Hermione. "Interesting.", her voice was neutral, giving no clue about her emotions or thoughts.

The table came quiet and Hermione used this time to study them. Narzissa wore a strapless dress that showed really well how thin she was. The dress of Malfoy´s partner – a girl she believed to be Astoria Greengrass – was white with a really nice top but with a way to revealing slit which just ended shortly under where her underwear would be if she wore any. Malfoy wore an all black ensemble of trousers, vest with light silver embroidery, shirt and a silver tie.

While she observed them Mrs. Malfoy closely looked at her dress and jewelry. Hermione knew very well why she did that. It was not because the dress was so beautiful but because of the fact that she wore it.

From that moment Mrs. Malfoy asked her several question and Hermione got more nervous by the minute which she tried to get in control of by sipping from her glass of champagne. Hermione would have loved to tell her what a bully her son was but being the polite person she was she decided otherwise. This interrogation went on until Blaise took it upon him to save her.

"Would you like to dance, Hermione?", he asked her and held his hand ready to guide her onto the dance floor.

She looked wearily at his hand for although she would love to dance with him she was a little mad at him for not telling her about the Malfoys.

For the first time this evening Malfoy opened his mouth and what came out was an insult disguised as advice.

"Don´t worry, Granger, Blaise has enough dance skills for the two of you.", he drawled while swaying his glass of fire whiskey in his hand. They may be in company of his mother but that was no reason for Hermione to let herself be insulted without resistance so she put on her sweetest smile and said: "Do not worry, Malfoy, I may not have enjoyed the same education as you have but my parents could very well afford to enable me to have dance lessons. Please do not assume that you know anything about me."

Malfoy cocked an eyebrow while Blaise´s neutral lips grew into a smirk.

On for the challenge Malfoy replied in the hope to embarrass her: "Sure I do not assume anything because you are full of mysteries and secrets for me but would you be so kind as to enlighten me what some of those things I do not know about you might be."

This made Hermione think for some seconds. She was sure that whatever she could say he would use it against her but still she would not give up so easily.

"Well, for once I can play the piano, quite well even, and I can put my leg behind my head."

The last part of her sentence was meant to proof that she was not only into reading but was also athletic but what Malfoy and Blaise made of it was that she was very flexible which meant good sex. This thought let Blaise´s smirk widen that much that the Cheshire Cat would be jealous of it and Malfoy look plain dumbstruck.

Taking his silence as sign of her victory she took Blaise´s hand and walked off to the other dancing pairs.

As soon as they were out of earshot she hissed at him: "How come you didn´t tell me that we would sit at a table with the Malfoys?"

He looked at her amused and quickly glanced at their table where his friend sat glaring at them.

"I know that Draco bullies you … a lot but while so many people are around him he can´t be rude and I just love him struggle with his manners." A quick chuckle. "You are doing great with handling him; I was so close to burst out in laughter."

With his natural charm Blaise made her forget her being mad at him and after two dances they went back to the table, Hermione confident that she could enjoy this evening.

From time to time Hermione joined the conversation between Mrs. Malfoy and Mrs. Zabini until Mrs. Malfoy changed the subject completely.

"Miss Granger, you wear a beautiful dress." Not expecting a compliment from the woman Hermione merely sat there looking at her blinking.

"A very special dress. I would love to know where you got it from." Knowing exactly what the woman was playing at Hermione smirked. The answer would surely irk her.

"A friend gave it to me as a birthday present together with the jewelry." This was definitely not what Mrs. Malfoy had wanted to know which became clear when she frowned.

"And who might this friend be, if I may ask." Hermione got her exactly where she had wanted her.

"Nymphadore Tonks – your _niece_. And she of course inherited from her mother."

With this she had found a sore spot for Narzissa answered coldly.

"So you are aware that this dress belongs to the Black family and of its history?" Hermione smiled superiorly because she had gained the upper hand in this conversation for there was nothing she did not know about the dress.

"Yes, I do. It once belonged to Violetta Black who enchanted it so that it would show every constellation of the Black family who usually name their children after ones. The dress was passed down from one generation to the next. And so the dress was given to Andromeda by Walburga Black because she did not have a daughter. The jewelry is the wedding gift of Phineas Nigellus Black for his wife Ursula."

Ending her explanation Hermione looked into the glaring blue eyes on Narzissa Malfoy. A quiet snicker could be heard from Mrs. Zabini and Blaise had to try hard not to smirk. Knowing Narzissa for much longer they could see the hidden rage in her eyes. The woman hated the idea of some low muggle-born to be in possession of something this precious to her.

A glowing from inside her small bag made Mrs. Malfoy forget the current situation. From one second to the next the seemed happy.

"Happy birthday, Draco.", she said and kissed her son on the cheek while pushing his present to him.

Opening the small box in front of him his face showed no joy like one would estimate but it paled. Taking his present out of the box it revealed itself to be a ring in the shape of a black snake biting itself into the tail. Like in slow motion he put the ring on the ring finger of her left hand thanking his mother.

Afterwards he seemed to look into the distance until he snapped out of his thoughts and asked his mother for the dance.

Walking past Blaise she caught him handing a coin pouch to her partner. Blaise turned to her with a triumphant smile wanting to dance with her once more.

The song was slow and low so Hermione had to whisper: "I saw that."

Pretending not to know what she meant Blaise replied nonchalantly: "You saw what?"

"Malfoy gave you money."

"Aah! That´s what you saw.", he said and leant forward to breathe into her ear: "I won a bet thanks to you, beautiful." Actually he calling her beautiful should have made her blush but she was simply upset about him using her.

"You betted on me?",she asked startled. A smug smile spread on his lips.

"Yes, I did. I like to play save and clearly I did. I killed two birds with one stone. I wanted to go to the ball with you and I betted that my partner would be more beautiful than the one he would bring along and I was right for Astoria looks like a cheap prostitute in that dress."

Hermione could not believe what she had just heard. Blaise had won the bet because DracoMugglehaterMalfoy thought her to be more beautiful than AstoriaPurebloodGreengrass. There had never one word crossed that man´s lips that was not an insult about her looks or ancestry and now this.

Without Hermione noticing Draco changed his dance partner for Mrs. Zabini while she kept on dancing in thought. She spent some minutes like this until they were interrupted by Mrs. Zabini who needed to talk with her son.

Blaise left her with Malfoy telling her "Don´t worry, he´ll behave." before he left.

Strangely what he told her was true for Malfoy merely took Blaise´s place and danced with her. She had never seen him so in thought, so distant, so pale. After two dances they returned to the table with Hermione quickly fleeing for it did not seem that the Zabinis would be back soon.

At the bar a man handed her a drink which she afterwards thought she should not have drunk for she felt dizzy then. In this weakened state she was approached by McLaggen who used every opportunity to touch her.

Soon she was more than grossed out and run away from him, McLaggen always close behind her. Desperate times need desperate actions so Hermione saw only one way to lose McLaggen - the most desperate one.

She rounded the next corner and attacked the guy who stood there. Closing her eyes she pressed her lips against his holding his head in place so he could not break the kiss.

Seconds passed which seemed like minutes to her with her head all dizzy. Whoever this guy was he at least did not kiss her back and when she opened her eyes she was presented with horror.

Out of all people she had kissed Draco Malfoy who now glared down at her. Now she wished McLaggen back but he was gone leaving he alone with Malfoy.

Alone, nobody around. That meant he could forget his manners and so he did.

"Granger.", he growled her name.

She wanted to take steps away from him but he held her in place with his firm arm around her waist. There was no witty excuse for what she had done, her brain was empty and her body trembled.

"First you insult me in front of my mother and now you do _this_." He shook his head in mock disbelief.

"Ts,ts,ts. Naughty little bookworm you are." His trademark smirk appeared and she did not like it.

"Wasn´t being a voyeur good enough for you anymore?" Shocked at his words she remembered the incident in the locker room. Pleased with her reaction to his words the look in his eyes became mischievous.

He drew an invisible line with his finger from the point under her ear, down her neck, over her collar bone to her décolleté. There his fingers remained going forth and back on the top of her breasts. A warm shiver ran down her spine and her cheeks flushed.

"Stop it, Malfoy.", she gasped.

"Oh, did you just say something?" He chuckled and leaned forwards so that his lips softly touched the sensitive skin of her neck. He could feel her trying to push him away but it failed and he trailed kissed up her neck until he caught her earlobe between his lips nibbling a little which earned him a gasp.

As he pulled away he saw disappointment in her eyes for the blink of an eye.

"Today´s my birthday. And there is something only you can give me."

Fear flared up in her eyes.

"Do you want to know what _that_ might be?" She swallowed hard.

Before he ended this he wanted to make this perfect so instead of telling her straight away he grasped her at her hair and kissed her passionately. It did not take long until she kissed him back while he laced his finger into her put-up hairdo so that the black diamond hairpins fell to the floor. When their lips separated she was slightly out of breath.

"Will you marry me, Granger?", he said in his husky voice that had made every girl melt so far.

Her head clouded she breathed: "_Yes._"

And so the snake of his ring let go of its tail and wandered down his arm and up her to stay at her ring finger.

The next thing Hermione remembered was waking up in her bed still fully dressed with some black out in her memory. And if it was not for the ring she would have believed the incident with Malfoy to have been a dream.

**/ yes I know the dress story does not make much sense if you say that only the female Blacks got it but let´s just say it isn´t like that and so Andromeda got it.**

**Hope you liked it**

_**Review, please?**_


	7. Chapter 7

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

7

The rest of her holidays went by in a blur. Hermione received a short note from Blaise apologizing for leaving her alone and sending her half the money he had bet on her. After reading the letters on the small parchment she had left immediately and pretended to have to learn a lot for school at home where she actually would have loved to spend time with her parents but was not in the mood to do so. She spent her time in her room, crying, thinking about how all of this could have happened for she still only knew half of it due to her black out and trying to pull the bloody ring off her finger. Soap, butter, oil – nothing helped and the ring did not move an inch.

An advanced delusion charm made sure that nobody could see the ring unless they especially looked for it. Not even the little badge that came along with her list of books for her sixth school year could brighten her mood. She had been chosen for the position of Head Girl, something she always had dreamt of but now could not enjoy.

* * *

><p>In the train to Hogwarts she sat apathetically with her friends, only conversing with them occasionally, plastering a forced smile upon her lips. She wanted to speak about what happened to her so badly and yet she did not dare to afraid of what her friends would say to her. After all it was not any guy she was engaged with now due to her drunkenness but Draco Malfoy, their arch-nemesis.<p>

Covering the hand with the tell-tale ring had become a habit of hers. Her thoughts had drifted off when Harry called her name.

"Hermione?" Harry had startled her.

"Huh? What is it Harry?" Her friend shook his head in disbelief and spoke: "I just congratulated you for becoming Head Girl."

"Oh, thank you.", she answered a little flattered. Ginny, Ron and Neville joined to congratulate her and were fulsome in their praise of her. It was until they asked her about her duties and Ron began babbling about all the things Percy had been so proud of that Hermione remembered that she was supposed to meet the Head Boy at the end of the train.

She excused herself and hurried along the narrow hall of the train. Compartment after compartment she walked undisturbed before she ran into Astoria Greengrass in between two compartments. She made to open the door to the last carriage when the girl grabbed her wrist painfully.

"It´s you?", she hissed and Hermione was met with a hateful glare.

A horrid realization struck her: Astoria could see the ring. This was bad, so the worst, for she knew that the Greengrass sisters were known for their gossiping. The news about her engagement with Malfoy would spread like fire in a dry wood.

"This is supposed to be mine, _mudblood_.", Astoria snapped and twisted her wrist in a hurtful angle."What have you done to Draco? What spell did you use?" Her voice rose in volume and Hermione was afraid someone would hear them so she cast a silencing spell under her breath.

"You filthy whore! Answer me!" She had gone too far.

Nobody insulted Hermione Granger like that unscathed. With her free hand she slapped the girl in the face. Astoria howled with pain and let go of her wrist.

"Bi-" The girl wanted to insult her even more, stupid wench, but Hermione´s wand in front of her nose silenced her.

"Careful there, Greengrass. And now listen before I curse you into the next century: no word about my engagement with Malfoy will cross your lips or else…", a sweet smirk spread on her lips, the girl had provoked her and would pay for it, Hermione could play the Slytherin as well.

"Or what?", she had still the audacity to make her more angry.

"I´m quite sure you know what happened to Marietta Edgecombe. You would not want something like this to happen to your face, would you? Well, what would happen to you would actually be way worse." The pureblood was speechless and stared at her with wide eyes.

"Remember, Greengrass, I will immediately know when you spilled the peas." Making this her final statement Hermione left the small room and went for the end of the train.

Entering the Head cabin she found it empty except for the burrowing owl sitting on the overhead rack. Hermione untied the small note from its foot and the owl flew off at once.

_Hermione,_

_I have to inform you that the Head Boy arrived early at Hogwarts so it is up to you to make sure all the students leave the train._

_Prof. McGonagall_

Sighing she stuffed the parchment into her pocket and decided to stay in the cabin, not too eager to pretend that everything was fine in front of her friends. The solitude was good for her, she found a little rest, mental rest, and could relax for the first time in quite a while. The scenery flew by the window; it was lulling her into a light slumber. She had been in that state for who-knows long when the train halted and the students emerged chatting loudly.

Waiting until the platform was crowded Hermione made her round along the train to find it empty and took the last carriage.

Ron was already digging into his food when she arrived. After the meal McGonagall approached her and escorted her to the Head dormitory and instructed her about her duties and liberties as Head Girl.

Exhausted Hermione did not even care to unpack all of her things or explore the different rooms of the dormitory but changed into her pajamas and fell asleep on her big bed, grateful that it would be a Saturday the next day so school would not start for another two days.

* * *

><p>The next day Hermione took her time to look into each room without ruffle of excitement. The heads had their own grand bathroom, a small kitchenette, a comfortable common room and each their own bedroom. The doorknob to Hermione´s had the shape of a lion´s head and the door handle to the Head Boy´s room had the shape of a snake so she figured that she was sharing the dormitory with a Slytherin. The snake would snatch at her hand when she had tried to touch it – a spell to make sure the heads had their privacy.<p>

Since the Head Boy had already neatly written a patrolling list for the upcoming weeks Hermione strolled off to the library to smell the fragrance of her loved friends again. Also she wanted to read something about pureblood marriage to find a way to get that damned ring off her finger. It took her some time before she found an appropriate book.

She had just started to read the book when two large hands grabbed her shoulder.

"Booh." Shocked she dropped her book and let out a short scream which was followed by a _"ssssh"_ from Mrs. Pince. A familiar chuckle could be heard from behind her.

"Blaise.", she said, feeling caught in the act because he bent down to lift her book and scanned the cover.

"_A history of pureblood marriage and pureblood rules_, eh? What would you need that for?", he joked and wiggled with his eyebrows but quickly stopped seeing the frightened look in her eyes.

Out of reflex she covered _the _hand with her other one. Zabini frowned at her reaction and fixed his eyes on exactly that hand.

"Show me your hand, Hermione." His voice no longer had its friendly tone but became commanding.

"No.", she whispered and took a step back.

"I said: show. Me. Your. Hand.", he bit out and Hermione wanted to retreat further but her back met the book shelf. She protested by shaking her head more violently but that did not stop Blaise and within the blink of an eye he had grabbed her wrists and separated them.

Closing her eyes to pretend nothing of this really happened Hermione could hear him taking in a sharp breath. Silence. A book was shoved into her hands then the sound of receding footsteps – angry footsteps.

**/ yay, so here is the new chapter I actually wanted to upload on tuesday but then my computer broke but all my data is safe. I hope you like it ^^. Tomorrow I will also upload my christmas chapter for CWP.**

_**Review, please?**_


	8. Chapter 8

**so I have been asked about the setting of my story - The wizarding convention took place during summer vacation between fifth and sixth year so this now is their sixth year in Hogwarts. I won´t follow the books all that much.**

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

8

Hermione only waited for someone to address her about the engagement matter or that people would stop talking in her presence, gossiping about the mudblood and the pureblood. Nothing happened. The weekend was quiet and not only did she see Malfoy or Blaise until Sunday evening.

She sat on the couch staring into the flames of the fireplace like she had done since her encounter with the dark-skinned Slytherin. A knock sounded on the portrait door and although she had waited for it she jumped up and almost screamed. Wearily her feet brought her to the door. Like in slow motion she opened it and steeled herself for insults but it was merely Blaise who walked right past her to stand next to the fireplace.

Confused by his behavior she closed the door and watched him from where she stood. He stared into the flames just as she had done. Only the crackling sound of the fire could be heard. Hermione could no longer stand this tension so she cleared her throat to draw his attention back to her. When he looked at her his eyes first were like in the library – hard and cold- but then his look softened and he smiled slightly. With long strides he neared the couch and took place where she had sat seconds ago.

"Sit down with me.", he spoke in a clear voice that held no aggression. Hesitating slightly it took her some effort to do as he said. As she wanted to sit down in the armchair next to the couch he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to sit beside him. He looked deep into her eyes and sighed.

"How in the world did this happen?" Taking her by her wrist he held her hand so that she had to look at the mocking ring on her finger.

"You were gone … and I was drunk.", she said it so quiet that he could barely hear her.

"For the brightest witch of my generation that is really stupid." Shaking his head he turned her hand to face him and stroked the ring with his thump. "I guess you already learned from the book that you cannot take this ring of…"

She nodded. "And that only Malfoy can free you from it …"

She nodded yet again. "And that there is no divorce in the pureblood society."

At that she nodded again and turned her eyes down, too ashamed to look at him. He sighed and tightened his grip on her wrist.

"But there is something I bet you did not know about that ring´s magical features." Gaining hope again from the tone to his voice Hermione looked up her eyes wide with expectation.

In no time his face was way too close to hers and his lips pressed against hers. She wanted to break the kiss but he held her head in place with one of his large hands. When she pushed against him with her free hand he caught it and used his long fingers to handcuff hers with them. She did not know how and when he changed their position so that she lay under him on the couch, her hands trapped between their bodies.

Biting, kicking, scratching – she tried everything but not once did the contact of their lips break and he only kissed her with more force. Tears welled up in her eyes. She had been so stupid to trust him and now he would have his way with her and nobody would help her for she had not seen the Head Boy once since she moved into their dormitory.

Oh, how badly and wrongly she thought about Blaise at that moment, only later would she realize what he really did.

She screamed at the tops of lungs into his mouth, so loud that she did not hear the _bang_ of a door being thrown open. Suddenly the weight of Blaise´s body was gone and she could see him flying through the room. Meeting the floor with a loud thud he growled but not as loud as the man standing at the Head Boy´s door.

The secret of the Head Boy´s identity was solved. Draco Malfoy.

The attacked rolled to his side to stand up but found himself floating in the air son his limbs being stretched in a hurtful angle. It took her some moments before she realized what was happening. Malfoy had rescued her but somehow she knew that he had not done it for her but for his own selfish reasons. He stood there, his muscles tense his wand arms trembling, yet his face was his neutral mask.

"You will never do this again, you foul bastard.", Malfoy bit out, his voice cold and deadly. The floating man could not reply with words but merely grunted in pain.

"She is my property and you will not lay one finger on her." Hearing him claim her as his property, treating her like a thing Hermione forgot her anger about what Blaise had done to her and stood up.

"Stop it, Malfoy!" With one intense glare he made all the words stuck in her throat. Seeing that his glare had the wanted effect Malfoy turned his stormy eyes back to his victim. Again his limbs were moved and Hermione swore she heard the cracking sound of splintering bones. Blaise exhaled as if his life left his body with his last air and his eyes were wide open. Tears gathered in Hermione´s eyes, she had known that Malfoy could be cruel but never this much.

"_Please_.", she sobbed and looked at him pleadingly. First silence then the sound of Blaise crashing on the floor.

"You better leave now before I forget myself.", was Malfoy´s frightening whisper and a stumbling and staggering Blaise left the room. Shocked by the violence Malfoy was capable of Hermione stared at him with wide eyes. Only when his victim had closed the portrait door behind him did Malfoy turn to her.

"Let that be a lesson to you, Granger." With long determined strides he closed the distance between them. He towered over her and his expression was superior.

"You´d better clean that dirty mouth of yours." Before she could react he had pointed his wand at her face and the taste of soap spread first on her tongue then in her mouth. It was disgusting. The taste made her cough bubbles the sight of which made Malfoy laugh nastily at her. Hermione wanted to scream at him, insult him but only more bubbles left her mouth.

His chuckle unnerved her and when he turned back to his dorm door she snatched her wand off the table, ended his spell and fired her own onto his door so he would not be able to open it.

"What is this?", Malfoy hissed and glared at her.

"Take it off!" Her voice was rough and loud. In mock unawareness of what she was talking about he raised one platinum eyebrow and smirked at her amusedly.

"I do not know what you are talking about." His sweet tone only made her angrier. Still pointing her wand at him she held her other hand so that he could see the ring.

"You know exactly what I am talking about."

"Ah! Now I get it. Yet I have to disappoint you because I won´t take it off." His smirk widened. "After all you seemed quite happy with it that night." Without her realizing it he had pointed out his wand at her and her wand was catapulted out of her hand. In the matter of seconds he stood so close to her like that night and gripped her hand so tight that it hurt.

"You are strange, Granger. I remember that night as if it was yesterday and I swear you forced yourself on me. It seemed like you lost it completely after that heartfelt _yes_." Hermione forgot how to breathe, her wide eyes locked with his grey ones.

What had she done that night?

If only she knew that this was only a bluff of his for unlike in her fantasy she had not fondled or kissed him senseless but had collapsed and had he not caught her would have crashed onto the floor. The alcohol had incapacitated her cardiovascular system. _Lost_ in this context meant that she had lost her consciousness -nothing more and nothing less. Her black-out had been due to the alcohol but she had not done anything, just slept but of this she did not know and Malfoy had no intention to inform her about it.

"I was drunk and you used it to your advantage. Never in the world would I have agreed to marry you if not under those conditions.", she snapped at him and tried to free her hand from his viselike grip.

"I could have never overcome my shyness without it." Again his voice was soft and husky like that night and when he inched his face closer to hers she held her breath. The atmosphere had changed and no alcohol or not she felt her head swirl. She could feel the heat radiating from his lips and the breeze of his breath so close was he. Hermione´s face flushed and her heart pounded like mad.

_He would not ki_- Her thoughts were interrupted when he pulled back and laughed. This cruel laughter. He was mocking her.

"Granger, you can´t be serious. Did you just really believe I would _kiss_ you? _You_?" Pushing her hand away his laughter increased and Hermione felt foolish for he was right.

"Never again! It was horrible enough to do it once." He shook his head in amused disbelief. Never had she been humiliated like this, she felt like crying but she would not grant him any further triumph so she just stood there her body trembling with anger. Snickering he turned, undid her spell on his door and left her alone in the room.

**so this is the first chapter of the year 2012, hope you liked it.**

_**Review, please?**_


	9. Chapter 9

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

9

That night Hermione lay in her bed and racked her brain on what she might have done after her yes and what Malfoy´s motif might be and mostly about why he needed her to be engaged with him. She came up with different scenarios and possibilities but one was less conceivable than the other and so she was wide awake for most of the time until she watched the sun rising and decided she had to sleep.

When she woke up the mirror in her room showed her just how horrible she looked. The worst part was that she not only looked terribly exhausted but also felt like it. She closed her eyes and tried to steel herself for the day. For if she did not she felt like braking.

What if Blaise attacked her like that again or even worse had told Harry and Ron about her engagement with Malfoy? How would she explain it to them? Too many open questions.

Gazing back at her mirror image she watched the single tear run down her emotionless face before she wiped it off and forced a smile on her face.

Normally she merely wrapped herself into her dressing gown to make her way to the Head bathroom but she did not dare to show herself like that to Malfoy so she changed into her uniform, fastened the Head Girl pin to her blouse and entered the common room. Luckily Malfoy was nowhere in sight and even when she had finished her morning routine he stayed absent.

A knock on the portrait door made her start and she hesitatingly opened the door. Hermione´s face immediately brightened when she saw that it was Harry and Ron and concluding from the smiles on their lips she knew that they knew nothing about her engagement situation. A huge weight fell off her shoulders and she threw herself onto her friends and hugged them tightly. They had come to pick her up and once seated at their usual seats at the Gryffindor table everything seemed so normal and peaceful that Hermione could forget her worries.

Getting letters on the first day of school was odd so all eyes were on Hermione when two owls dropped something in front of her – the Daily Prophet and a letter. A little riddled herself Hermione examined the envelope carefully, drawing in a sharp breath when she recognized the handwriting. Although she had gotten a note from this person only once before she immediately knew who had written it.

Swiftly she stuffed it into her bag. Just when the others went back to their conversation did she dare her eyes to wander over to the Slytherin table where they made contact with the black ones of Blaise Zabini who gave her an apologetic look.

She wondered about him when she felt a burning sensation. Someone was staring at her so she moved her head in this direction but quickly looked down seeing the intense glare Malfoy fixed her with. She felt caught in the act and because she could still feel his glare which made her shrink in her seat she soon fled, having barely touched her breakfast.

Her one hand always blocked the ring from curious eyes. Walking through the halls like that she might have seemed shy and self-conscious to others but what she really felt was fear. The library was her fortress of safety. There she relaxed a little and calmed down so her fingers no longer shook like leaves in the wind when she opened the letter.

_Hermione,_

_I have to apologize for my actions but you will understand and hopefully forgive me. Although I only know you for a short time I am sure you would have never agreed to what I wanted to do and did. Also Malfoy would have punished you as well if you had known what consequence my action had on him. Malfoy may be a possessive git but you and I both know he does not care about you so there was no need to act the way he did – cruel and brutal. _

_Well, there is no obvious reason and none you could have found in your books for only a few know about the magical features of the ring. The ring does not only bind you to him but it also makes sure that the other one knows that the other one is cheating and vice versa. In which way does it accomplish this you might ask. _

_You can figure it out for yourself by having a closer look on his left hand._

_With only the best intentions,_

_Blaise_

The letter threw more questions at her. There had been nothing odd about Malfoy´s hand last night or had there? She did not know so she had to follow his advice.

Hermione arrived late for the first lesson in hope to catch a glimpse of Malfoy´s left hand but he arrived even later than she did. The second lesson, Potions, she tried to look at his hand when they collected their ingredients but the pug-faced was always in her field of vision clinging to the blonde. In both lessons she nearly went insane feeling his heated glare on her neck. She even tried to shield her neck from him but realizing that she used her left hand – the ring hand- for it quickly decided otherwise.

Leaving the dungeon first she again tried to follow Blaise´s advice but when Malfoy walked past her he shoved his shoulder so hard into hers that she almost fell. She shot him a glare and rubbed her shoulder but got a sneer in return.

"Hey, you okay, Mione?", came the worried voice of Harry from behind her and from the corner of her eyes she could see Blaise stomping out of the dungeons.

"Yes, I´m fine. Malfoy – the usual."

Until Arithmancy she did not see Malfoy again and when she did she was so shocked that she forgot all about his left hand.

Malfoy had a black eye and his lip was swollen.

**/ so here is chapter 9 and is closely followed by chapter 10. Actually it was on chapter but it was simply too long so I divided it in two.**

**thanks for the reviews, favs and alerts, you people are simply great.**

_**Review, please?**_


	10. Chapter 10

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

10

His answer to the teacher´s question if something had happened was a simple but definite shake of his head.

At dinner the news about Malfoy´s bad shape had already reached Harry and Ron. "Serves him right, damn ferret.", Ron spat with a smirk on his face.

"How did it happen anyways?", Ginny asked while sitting down.

Before her brother could open his mouth Harry had already begun to tell her the story: "I heard he had an argument with Zabini which ended with Zabini as the winner by two well-placed punches to the face. Seamus saw them."

"What? Zabini?", Hermione gasped and Harry nodded.

"Yep, it was Zabini. I´m just baffled that he did not tell on him to the Professors." All of their eyes darted to where the blonde sat eating his dinner while Parkinson kept on caressing his cheek. The girl began to fondle him more so that even from where she sat Hermione could see his anger rise.

A kiss on the cheek was the final straw and he pushed her away and from how she reacted must have said something harsh to her for she stood up and left the great hall in haste.

Back in the Head common room Hermione waited. Catching a glimpse of Malfoy´s hand would not work so she had to confront him about it. She had to know so she sat on the couch her body tense.

First she had waited drinking a hot chocolate but that was long empty now and the warm feeling of the sweet drink was replaced with anxiety. Every minute, every ticking of the clock gnawed on her nerves. When he finally entered the sound of the door opening made her jump and turn towards it.

For some moments they merely stood where they were staring at each other then Draco broke their eye contact and made his way to his door. She had guessed that he would do so and like the other night she put a spell on it. Turning around ever so slowly Hermione already knew that she had enraged him by doing so. His neutral façade was perfect except for the burning anger in his eyes.

"Is this turning into a habit of yours, Granger?" One eyebrow cocked he regarded her.

"I want to talk."

"Oh, is that so. Too bad I do not feel like to meet your wish." Hermione raised her chin a little higher to show her determination and stepped closer to him until she stood right in front of his tall frame.

"Fine, then we won´t talk." Malfoy raised his eyebrow a little more at that not having anticipated that. Her eyes wandered down his neck, his shoulder and his left arm to find that he hid his hand behind his back from her view. She looked back into his stormy eyes and smiled. He really looked pitiful with his eye framed with the blue and violet bruise but she could not let it show.

"You know if we are going to marry you should not keep secrets from me, _darling_, so why are you hiding your hand behind your back?" _Darling_ – calling him that felt just so wrong even dripping with venom like she had said it. Malfoy noticeably stiffened and she could see his brain working.

"I would not want to get my hand dirty that´s just it."

"I never said I wanted to touch it. Only looking, no touching." She put so much sweetness into her voice that it was hard to get the words out of her mouth. Her words had the effect she wanted, his eye flinched. But his eyes changed from stormy to liquid silver and it made a shiver run down her spine.

"Take a good look at what _you_ have done to me, Granger.", he whispered and put his hand right in front of her eyes in a way that she had to look at _it_. His ring finger looked rotten. Presented with such horror she stumbled backwards and gasped.

"What is it, Granger? Is this not what you wanted to accomplish? Doesn´t it satisfy you?" He studied the rotten flesh of his finger without ever looking away from her out of the corners of his eyes.

"I didn´t know what Blaise was doing and I clearly did not want that!", Hermione shouted and tears threatened to fall but she blinked them back.

"Ah, Blaise, your knight in shining armor. He sure has the hots for you, the way he attacked you… well, and me. But I´m sure he only did so because you told him to.", Malfoy snarled and fixed her with an icy glare.

"He´s not my knight and I did not tell him to hit you in the face!" The welled-up tears began to flow; his accusations were just too cruel. Malfoy huffed and began to unbutton his shirt.

"Ts! So my face was an extra." Button for button more bruises were revealed shining in a sick blue on his white skin. Shocked to the core Hermione stood still, her hand covering her agape mouth. Even when he was done buttoning his shirt she was speechless.

"If you excuse me, Grange, I have better things to do.", this were his last words before he turned around to enter his room. Although she had not told Blaise to do any of those things she felt immense guilt for he had done it for her. Sure, Malfoy was bad but he definitely did not deserve this, it was too much.

Later that night he would find ointment for his bruises in front of his door with a note with instructions of how to use it after someone had knocked on his door. He had opened the door in time to catch a last glimpse of Hermione closing her door behind her.

**/tadaaaa! 10 chapters! Hope you liked it**

_**Review, please?**_


	11. Chapter 11

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

11

Hermione woke up late the next day and when she entered the common room to get into the Head bathroom she was presented with Pansy Parkinson pressing herself against a really unimpressed and rather annoyed Malfoy. Both pairs of eyes went to her wrapped in her dressing gown as the closing click of her door could be heard.

"Granger, do want to scare us to death, you ugly scarecrow. It is a wonder no bird has decided to build a nest in your hair yet.", Parkinson spat.

_Pug_ _face_ – that is what Hermione wanted to counter but she had sworn to herself that she would never steep so low.

"Good morning to you too, Parkinson. Always a pleasure to see you." From years of suffering the low blows of Parkinson she knew that the Slytherin girl could not handle a friendly reply. Pouting Pansy turned to Malfoy.

"Draco, dear, don´t look at her for too long I bet your eye is already hurting badly enough, right?" She blinked frantically and pressed herself further into Malfoy. The sight was disgusting.

Malfoy looked her up from top to toe and back. Crossing her arms across her chest Hermione showed how she did not like his action but while he scanned her she did the same with him. His lip was no longer swollen and his eye more visible than the day before and a light green instead of a deep purple. She could only guess that the bruises on the rest of his body had mostly faded as well. When their eyes locked Hermione stared head on into his.

Nothing in his face gave away his thoughts until she caught the spark in his eyes. Malfoy had an idea and she did not like it. A smirk stole itself onto his lips as he turned back to Parkinson. He bent down so that his head was level with hers. From where she stood Hermione could see how Pansy shuddered and blushed. The electricity between them was almost visible.

"_Pansy_, of course you are right." Malfoy said her name like it was the most beautiful thing on earth.

Ever so slowly he inched closer. So close that Parkinson closed her eyes in anticipation of a kiss. A gasp escaped Hermione´s lips and her eyes went wide with fear for if she had understood Zabini´s explanation of the ring correctly her finger might rot like Malfoy´s if he kissed Parkinson.

Much to her relief he did not kiss Pansy but merely stayed like he was, his lips only an inch apart from Parkinson´s, and glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, his trademark smirk in place. Doing this he wanted to let her know that he would not hesitate to do the same as she had done.

"You should leave now. I have some things to do." Confused Parkinson stepped back to get a better look at him before she stormed of sulking.

A predator grin spread on his lips and revealed his white teeth. As Malfoy stalked towards her she felt the urge to cry out for help and run for her life. Slamming his hand on the wall on either side of her Malfoy trapped her and pushed so close towards her that she barely had room to move.

"You might have found out about the ring but let me make one thing clear, Granger: the same thing that happened to me can happen to you, too. And if you ever dare to do it again I will repay you, understood?"

Frightened to look him straight in the eye Hermione fixed her gaze on the Slytherin crest on his chest. Malfoy was angry but neither did his shoulders heave nor was his breath labored – he was in full control. Because of all the stress of the last weeks Hermione´s lower lip was red from chewing on it the whole time and now that Malfoy threatened her it only took her one bite to make her taste her blood. The light stinging pain in her lip though was nothing compared to the pain when Malfoy pulled at her hair to force her to look at him.

"I asked you something, Granger.", he hissed in a whisper.

"I understand." Pleased with her answer he let go of her hair and she sighed in relief.

"Good girl." The hand that had been in her hair wandered over her neck to her cheek and caressed it gently. Although it was a nice gesture the context and the deathly look in his eyes made her shudder under his touch. Slowly he retreated to sit on the couch.

About to open the door to the bathroom Hermione was stopped once more by his drawl.

"One more thing, Granger. Stay away from Zabini and don´t think I won´t find out if you did meet him." Feeling insecure in his presence she ran down the stairs that led to the bathroom.

Before she went to the Great Hall for breakfast Hermione ran to the owlery to write a letter. It read:

_B,_

_Thank you for the information on the ring but please do not contact me again, it will only worsen my situation._

_H_

During breakfast she did not dare to look at the Slytherin table for she feared how Blaise would react.

"HERMIONE!"

"Ron, you don´t have to shout at me, I´m not deaf.", Hermione snapped.

"Well, but it seems so because I have called your name for the tenth time."

"Oh, I´m sorry."

"Seriously, Mione, you are behaving strange lately. Is something wrong?", Harry asked in a worried tone. Cursing herself for being so bad at faking happiness Hermione forced a smile.

"I just feel a little under the weather, that´s all." Harry gave her that look she knew too well. To him she was like an open book so he could feel when she was lying. Ron though bought her lousy lie.

"So I wanted to ask if we could come over to the Head common room to do homework with you." Sending him a glare she corrected him.

"You mean to let me help you with your homework because you are too lazy to do it on your own, don´t you?", Hermione asked sardonically. Elbowing his friend into the side Harry smiled at her apologetically.

"You know we are hopelessly lost without you, Mione." Puppy eyes – she could not say no to them even if she really felt like doing so.

"Fine.", she sighed in defeat. "But I´ll come to the Gryffindor common room. It would be a waste of my time with Malfoy around."

Hermione left the table early with Ginny who had almost the same way she had.

"So you are feeling under the weather, _huh_? Don´t make me laugh." Just like Harry Ginny had smelt the lie and now would do anything to find out.

"It´s the truth."

"Are your parents sick? Aren´t you up with your learning schedule? Hm….. Is Malfoy even more annoying than usually? Some guy trouble?" Hermione had kept rolling her eyes up to the last question but then the look of being caught had been in her falter in her eye rolling had betrayed her.

"_Oh_ _Merlin_, Mione, you are in love right? Who is it?" The curious stare of Ginny was unbearable. Although her assumption was wrong she had been right about the _trouble_ part.

Luckily the corridor where they had to part was right ahead of them and Hermione said bye to her nosy friend. She had only took her a few steps into her corridor when she was pulled into a dark room.

**/ so here is chapter 11. I cannot guarantee that the next chapters will follow as quick because actually I should be preparing for my exams in february.**

_**Review, please?**_


	12. Chapter 12

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

12

A hand was pressed over her mouth and whoever had pulled her in stood right behind her.

_Shhhhh_.

The sound so near to her ear made her shiver. Although she was scared to death she would not give in to whoever this was without putting up a fight so she kicked, elbowed, punched and even bit. The taste of blood spread in her mouth but she was completely sure that it was not hers for the hand was removed from her mouth with a wince.

"Damn it, Granger!" _He?_ Her feeling of fear heightened and she tried to feel for the door handle. Being in the same room with this person was wrong. Two strong arms wrapped around her keeping her restrained.

"Let me go!", Hermione hissed and thrashed around.

"No, definitely not. I have not even started with you and will not let you go until I´m finished."

"Seriously, can´t you read?" At that the arms tightened and pushed the air out of her lungs.

"I am very capable of reading, Hermione, but I have to say that I did not like what you wrote and want an explanation." , he growled into her ear. Huffing she stopped to struggle against his grip.

"I´ll explain but first let me go.", she pressed out a little breathlessly. The hold onto her loosened so that she could turn to him but it was still there so she could not escape.

"Lumos." A small white light appeared on the tip of her wand. Zabini pressed his eyes shut at the sudden light. They eyes having adjusted to the light they stared at each other waiting for one to start talking. Blaise was first to break the silence.

"So, why can´t I see you anymore?"

Crossing her arms over her chest she answered: "Well, first you kissed me then you told me about the ring. Did you really think Malfoy would let me see you again? He _threatened_ me, Blaise." The dark-skinned in front of her scowled. His jaw set tight something dark glistened in his eyes. 

_Rage_.

"No! Don´t you even think of it. If you beat him up again he will punish me for it.", she hissed seeing his malicious intentions in his black orbs. As the glistening did not vanish she glared at him. "Why did you beat him up anyways?"

"I asked him why he asked you to marry him and guess what he replied."

Raising an eyebrow she said: "I don´t know."

"_It´s all just a game to make her feel uncomfortable while I have fun_." To his surprise she merely shrugged and looked indifferent.

"I already figured it would be because of something like that." His expression changed from angry to disbelieving.

"And you will accept this?" His hands gripped into her shoulder and shook her.

"Yes, I have to. Malfoy will let me go eventually.", she hissed and with one jerk she freed herself and walked away from the stunned man.

For the rest of the day she was in a bad mood and it had to become even worse when she walked down to Hagrid´s hut for Care of magical Creatures. Malfoy pushed his way through some walking students and pushed one down by doing so while he channeled a way to Hermione who walked at the front of everyone without Harry or Ron. Pain erupted in her arm when he forcefully spun her around to face him. She had neither heard him come nor could she interpret his expression.

"Granger, Granger, Granger. So you met with Zabini although I have told you not to." He shook his head in mock disbelief his trademark smirk slowly appearing. "You´ve been a very naughty girl and you know what I do with naughty girls? I punish them." She looked at him like a deer caught in headlight, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

The shouts of her friends did not reach her ear for she was too focused on Malfoy. Even when he turned his head she did not look in the direction he did but kept staring at him.

"I guess we have to postpone this. Your watch dogs are coming." He released her arm and strode off.

"Hermione? Hey! What happened?" Suddenly Harry was right in front of her and shook her while Ron stared at her questioningly. It took her some time to process what had just happened. Both of her best friends talked to her insistently but she barely grasped what they said.

"I´m fine. Head duty stuff.", was what she managed to stutter as they dragged her with them to Hagrid´s hut.

From then on she was afraid of what Malfoy might do to her as soon as she saw him so she kept hidden in the library and helped Harry and Ron more with their homework than she had ever done before. When she went back to the Head´s dormitory it was pitch black outside and the fire in the fire place was long dead. Thankfully Malfoy was nowhere in sight then and the whole following morning. Actually she did not see much of him for the next couple of weeks except in class so she started to relax.

It seemed that he had grown tired of her rather quickly so he would set her free soon or at least that was what she thought. It was one of those times when she smiled absently when Snape asked her something and she did not know the answer since she had not heard the question. The consequence for her was that she had to stay after the lesson to have a talk with him. Although he had gotten the position of Defense against the Dark Arts he still was as gloomy and moody as ever.

"I´m sorry for spacing out, Professor.", she whispered her eyes facing the floor.

"Show me your hand." In the split of a second the panic about the ring came back. Had he noticed? She deliberately showed him her right hand. His aura only darkened at her action.

"You are very smart, Granger, so do not pretend to not know which hand I mean." Her left hand shook uncontrollably as she brought it forward so he could see it. "It seems that I was right about its origin. It is from Mr. Malfoy, right?" She nodded her head.

A huge weight pushed her down. Snape would tell the other teachers and then everyone would know. Her worst nightmare would come true.

"One more question and you may leave, Miss Granger." Startled by his words she looked up at him. His face did not have the hard expression it usually had. He almost seemed sympathetic below his deep scowl. But this only remained on his features for a couple of seconds before it became unreadable again.

"Did this happen with your consent?" Hermione swallowed hard. The fear of what would happen and the embarrassment about the truth was too great. Opening her mouth to answer she found that no sound would come out so she shook her head. Snape pressed his lips into a thin line and frowned.

"I will accompany you to the Head´s dormitory.", he stated and began to walk with her scuffling behind him.

"I … I .. was…um."

"I do not want to hear your explanation, Miss Granger, I know that Mr. Malfoy has his ways to get whatever he wants."

She fell silent and wrapped her arms around her suddenly feeling defenseless. After following several corridors and going up stairs they arrived in front of the ornament which was in the shape of a grim-looking man with his mouth agape. She inserted her hand into his mouth and the portrait to her right swung open.

Snape did not wait for her and approached Malfoy´s door hammering against it with his fist. Cursing could be heard from inside but as soon as Malfoy opened the door he became speechless at the sight of his professor. Snape harshly took hold of the back of his collar and dragged him out of his room.

"We have to talk.", the professor growled and pulled a surprised Draco with him. Hermione had waited for him to return and free her of the ring but it was already early morning when she heard the click of his door closing. She had missed him and did not see him until the next weekend.

**/ so here is chapter 12. who guessed that it was Blaise who dragged her into the room? **

_**Review, please?**_


	13. Chapter 13

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

13

Malfoy was sitting in one of the comfortable armchairs, his feet on the coffee table when she entered the common room after breakfast. She positioned herself right in front of him so he could not ignore her or flee and put her hands onto her hips.

"What do you want, Granger?", he asked her in lazy drawl.

"Take it off!" Shoving her hand almost into his face he did not even blink.

"No." As his wicked smirk appeared she wanted to slap him so badly she had to remind herself that she was better than him and that she had self-control.

Through gritted teeth she pressed out: "Your little game is over. Snape knows." From one second to the next his superior look was gone and replaced with a miserable sadness.

"Oh, Professor Snape, I swear she wanted it. Please, believe me! I love her." He could not be serious. There he was grinning at her as he reenacted his talk with Snape. His hand wandered over his face and where the predator face has been the sad face returned. His acting was good but she could not believe that Snape would be stupid enough to fall for that. "That woman! It´s her! _She_ is playing with my heart!" A tear rolled down his cheek and Hermione could no longer take it and slapped him with all her strength across the face. The smack was so loud it echoed through the room.

"He surely did not believe your horrible acting.", she hissed, tears welling in her eyes.

"Acting? It´s _love_, Granger." She might have hit him but she had not been able to wipe his smirk off his face. His mention of love only made her more angry.

"You are sick, Malfoy. Love? You despise me just as much as I do you. You don´t know what love is!", she shouted as he stood up to tower over her small frame an eyebrow raised in challenge.

"So I don´t know what love is, Granger? Well, enlighten me since you seem to know exactly what it is." He looked down his nose at her, his eyes winter storm grey.

"If you loved me like you say you do, you would not have taken advantage of my drunkenness. You would have wooed me, you would have bought me some flowers, you would have taken me out for dinner, and you would care about my feelings!" With everything she screamed at him she punched against his chest while the tears found their way down her face. Word for word it dawned upon her what she wished for herself and what she had gotten herself into. But she also knew that she could not free herself for she was at Malfoy´s mercy. After her last words she clutched the front of his shirt in her hands and looked at him.

"Please. Please, release me, Malfoy. I _beg_ of you." Had her sight not been that hazy from her tears she would have seen that Malfoy´s neutral façade wavered for a second and his pity for her showed. It had only shown for the blink of an eye but it had been there. His façade in place he looked her deep into the eyes.

"The answer stays the same: No." Frustrated and angry she once more raised her hand for a slap but he caught her wrist. "That won´t work twice, Granger."

She would not walk away defeated this time, she would fight back. In one swift move her knee met his crotch, he doubled over and she walked away.

Well, walk might not be the right word for she stormed out and ran through the hallways always careful that nobody would see her in this state. The library was not an option so she ran towards the lake.

Autumn had arrived and a cold wind blew around the big lake making her tremble. She welcomed the cold for it also calmed down her thoughts and matches her feelings. At least like that people would not know that she did not tremble because of the cold but because of the ache she felt in her heart. Her sniffing and sobbing was so loud in her ears that she spun around in fright as someone cleared his throat behind her.

"Blaise.", she breathed and flung her arms around him starting to sob against him. A warm hand stroked up and down her back. She did not know how much time passed while they remained at the lake like this but when they returned to the castle it was already dark and Hermione was trembling from the cold wind then so that Blaise gave her his cloak.

Without her caring one bit about where he led her she found herself in front of the painting of the giant fruit bowl where Blaise tickled the green pear. In the kitchen it was warm and smelled of dinner which they had missed. The house elves immediately gathered around her as soon as she sat down and asked if _the_ _Miss_ would like something. Hermione was not ready yet to say anything, all words stuck somewhere in her throat so she did not complain when Blaise ordered soup for her.

The clatter of pots and pans lulled her into a dream-like state. Every move of her was automatic. She could not even say if the soup tasted good or bad. Blaise and Dobby talked to her but all she heard was the pans and pots. She could see the worried expression on the man´s face but she did not find the strength to smile at him, to show him that she appreciated what he was doing for her. The way up to the Head dormitory or how she got into her room she did not remember.

When she woke up she was lying on her sheets, her shoes still on her feet and Blaise´s cloak wrapped around her. It was bright daylight outside but she did not care and lay there for a couple more hours just staring at the ceiling. Hunger and the moldy smell in her room forced her to stand up and get done with her "morning routine".

A package with a letter tied to it lay on the coffee table. Her hair still dripping from the shower she opened the envelope to find a letter from the wizard convention hotel and two photographs. The first was of her and Krum and the second showed her with Blaise at that damned night. She shoved all back into the envelope and did not even other to open the package.

A knock ripped her out of her daze. Only when the knocks became more persistent did Hermione decide that she would open the door. It was Ginny.

"Hey, it´s Hogsmeade weekend and I wanted to pick you up." Hogsmeade – Hermione had completely forgotten about it. She offered her friend a tiny smile and asked her to come in while she got dressed.

Entering the common room again she found Ginny staring at one of her photos. A look of utter surprise was on the girl´s features while panic arose in Hermione.

_"You and Blaise Zabini?"_ A feeling of wanting to slap herself for her own stupidity spread in Hermione. She had known that her friend was a nosy one.

Excuses! She needed to come up with some but everything that was in her mind were the most stupid ones and the truth and she would not tell Ginny either of it.

"I knew it.", Ginny squealed and grinned in triumph. But what happened next surprised Hermione beyond belief. Her friend embraced her.

"You should have told me. I´m so happy for you two. And I thought I saw ghosts when I saw you two being all lovey-dovey at the lake."

**so here is chapter 13. Is anyone angry because Snape did not really do anything about Hermione´s situation. I might write a flashback of Snape´s talk with Malfoy in a later chapter. The revealing of Hermione´s secret is coming closer. I think I´m getting addicted to my own story, reading your comments I always want to update the story soon to see how you like the plot.**

_**Review, please?**_


	14. Chapter 14

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

14

The news about Hermione Granger, Gryffindor Princess, being the girlfriend of Blaise Zabini, Slytherin hotty, spread like fire in a dry forest but luckily Hermione had been the first to tell him about their _relationship_.

It had been horrible for her to be dragged down to the village where Harry and Ron were already waiting for them at the three Broomsticks knowing that Ginny would spill the beans as soon as they would come into view. The worst about it though was that of all people Lavender was sitting with her two best friends.

LavenderBloodyChatterboxBrown was the last person she wanted to know. What was worse about this situation was that until that moment Hermione had been blind to the fact that she and Ron were dating. Sure, she had seen them hang out and chat but the whole sucking Ron´s face off part was new to her. The sight was like a punch in the face.

His reaction to the news surprised her most for he did seem to listen to his sister but then he did not get red from anger and ranting about Slytherins but snogged Lavender. Harry on the other hand did react.

"Blaise Zabini? He´s a Slytherin! When did this happen?" Although the news was wrong she did not like how Harry talked about her _boyfriend_ and scowled.

"It started during summer vacation."

"What? This long and you did not care to tell me about it?", he said so loud that several people turned towards their table to see what this fuss was all about.

Thankfully Ginny took side with her and snapped at him: "No wonder she did not want to tell you. Just look at how childish you are behaving. Blaise Zabini might be a Slytherin but have you ever seen him tease Hermione?" Seeing that Ginny made sense he looked at Hermione ashamed and shook his head.

Harry sighed and asked: "Is he treating you well?"

Involuntarily she had to smile and replied: "Very well in fact." Returning her smile Harry nodded.

"Then I´m fine with it. I trust your choice, Mione." Glad to have a friend like that she hugged him feeling a little bad about not telling him the whole truth.

The following days she spent more time with her friends and Blaise. The Slytherin even got along with Harry and Ginny quite well. If he had really been her boyfriend she would have been very proud of it for he was a true gentleman.

The news about them had even reached the Professors so Slughorn always hinted on never having had a couple in his Slugclub when he handed them their invitation during their potion lesson. Although Malfoy had threatened her he did not seem to care much about them and left her alone, barely talking to her on the rare occasions when they met.

The first meeting of the Slugclub was held on a Wednesday evening. They were served the finest meals the house elves could make and Slughorn told him about his former Slugclub students and how he likes to be surrounded by such splendid wizards. But what he talked about most was his new ace in his collection: Harry Potter.

Harry Potter this, Harry Potter that.

Hermione only listened half-heartedly because she tried to only talk to Blaise for if she engaged in a group conversation Cormac McLaggen always found a way to make ambiguous remarks and that disgusted her. So she did not see that the longer Slughorn was fulsome in praise of Harry the more annoyed and by that the more drunk Malfoy got. She did not even realize when Malfoy left their party early swaying slightly on his way out of the room.

It was long past midnight when Slughorn declared the end of the party and wished them a good night. Blaise walked her to her dormitory where he kissed her forehead and left with a word of warning Hermione would soon come to understand. 

_Be careful around Malfoy_.

A sleeping Malfoy she had thought was nothing she should be careful around. About that she had been right. Her mistake had been to wake him. Again her goodness led her into her doom because she thought that sleeping in the armchair like he did looked very uncomfortable. So she had walked over to him and called his name to wake him up but no matter how loud she called him he did not wake so she bowed slightly over him to first poke then shake his shoulder.

Never had she known someone with that fast reflexes just after waking up. She did not even know how he had done it that she straddled him.

"There you are, Granger." The smell of alcohol was notable in his breath.

"Disobedient little girl you are. I tell you to stay away from Zabini and you become his girlfriend." He shook his head and trapped her in his arms with his iron hold. Knowing the games of his too well she knew that letting him talk would get her out of this the fastest way.

"Well, too bad for you I know Zabini too well and far longer than you. This whole girlfriend thing is just an act and _you_ thought I was a bad one but seriously you suck at it.", he slurred and laughed humorlessly. Turning her head to face away from him because him smell and behavior disgusted her she glared impatiently.

"You are even dressing up for him. That messy birds nest you called hair is tamed now. I wonder how you did that. I always thought that mess had a will of its own." She could feel how he touched her hair but controlled her urge to shake her head wildly to keep him from doing so.

What he said was true though. Since everyone now believed that she had a boyfriend she made an effort to look good. The content of the package from the convention hotel helped her accomplishing that. They had sent her a big flask of the shampoo which smoothed her frizzy hair into soft waves. A lotion made her look healthy and vital.

"You know what I have been thinking about, Granger?" Getting more impatient with every slurred word he said she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"No, I don´t know but I believe you will enlighten me soon enough.", she huffed and struggled in his arms.

"Come on, Granger, don´t be so boring. Make a guess."

Turning her head to give him an annoyed look she countered: "Fine, did you think about getting a new haircut?" At that he snorted and his trademark smirk grew wider and the glint in his eyes that meant no good appeared.

"_Wrong_. Yet I have to say it was a nice try. So, do you know about my reputation?", he drawled while pulling her closer.

Raising her eyebrow in mock disbelief she snapped: "What is there I would not know about? You are one spoiled prick who likes to pick on other especially if you do not get the attention you think you deserve. That´s why you hate Harry so much, you are jealous. And you hate Ron because Harry chose him, a poor blood traitor, over you as his best friend. And you hate me because although I was not born into a magical family I am still better than you."

It was all the truth and they both knew it. With each sentence Hermione´s triumphant smile widened while Draco´s smirk faded. To see how he did not find the right words was like an early Christmas present for her.

But what he did after she had finished her speech astound her: he shrugged.

"Congratulations on stating the obvious. Your mind is as sharp as ever. Still this is not the right answer. I will let you try again. What do the Slytherins call me?"

"Slytherin prince."

"_10 points to Gryffindor_!", he roared so close to her ear she had to lean away from him. The snicker that followed made her insides churn.

"Next question: What do the girls call me?" Gulping her face flushed crimson. Those words would not leave her mouth.

"Where is all the eagerness to answer the question? You cannot deceive me. I can see it that you know the answer." She could hardly suppress her panic. The conversation had just turned into a direction she did not like – not one bit. The drum of her heart was pounding loud in her ears. Her lips parted and she whispered what he wanted to hear.

"I did not hear that." Nibbling on her lower lip she watched him her brain working like crazy to figure out a way out of this situation. Doing as he told her to was the only option.

"Slytherin Sex God.", she said while pressing her eyes shut, too ashamed to look into those malicious eyes.

"See that wasn´t so difficult.", his voice was soft but the hand that groped her ass kept her from relaxing.

"Contrary to my reputation I have been very well-behaved up to now but I have my limits, Granger." Shocked she opened her eyes and stared at him. He did not mean what she thought he meant by saying that or did he? With all her strength she pressed against his arms but they would not budge.

First she felt his breath on her skin then the light scratch of his teeth. He caught one loose end of the ribbon she had tied between his teeth and pulled. His eyes never left hers while doing so. The two parts of her laced top fell apart and revealed the skin on the top of her breasts to him. He hummed at the sight and trailed kissed over the skin that he could see.

"Stop it!" She went rigid as he stopped what he was doing. The illusion of safety did not last long because he had found another target for his lips – her neck. He bit and sucked on her sensitive skin.

"Stop, please!", she sobbed. With one jerk he rested his back against armchair again and looked at her annoyed.

"You are no fun at all, Granger.", he barked.

"Please, let me go.", she begged to which he only huffed.

"I will let you go." Relief showed on her face. "_If_ you kiss me." The expression quickly vanished.

Gathering all her courage she inched towards him. When their lips were so close to his that she could almost feel them he opened his mouth once again.

"Kiss me like you really mean it." Hesitating she opened her eyes and looked him right into his and with just one glance she knew she would never be able to get away from him if she did not comply with what he said.

Taking one final breath and swallowing slightly she closed the distance between them. The smell of alcohol was even more sickening from this close but she kept her nerves together and molded her lips on his. She even went so far as to suck on his lower lip. Although he had told her to do so he did not care to kiss her back. His lips were still. The fact offended her after all she really tried to make this kiss believable.

Just as she wanted to end it he moved his hand from her hip to her head and pushed her further towards him. With this move he startled her that much that she gasped which allowed him to slip his tongue into her mouth. Again she tried to push against his hold but the effort was in vain. He had invaded her mouth and now explored every bit of it wrestling her tongue by doing so. Again and again she tried to push his tongue out of her mouth but it always evaded her and attacked hers once more.

Hermione could not understand how some people could find pleasure in kissing like this because for her it was simply disgusting. Luckily Malfoy soon showed mercy and let go of her. The second his hand left her head she pulled back as far as she could and wiped her mouth grossed out by what he had forced to do.

"Boring as always.", he sighed. "You are no fun at all, Granger."

Shooting him a glare she went off his lap not trusting his current mood. As fast as she could she ran towards her door and flung it open. Yet it would not close for Malfoy´s foot was in the way. She pressed more against her door but he would not move his foot.

"For you information: sooner or later I will have you, Granger. By the latest on our wedding night I will burst you cherry." Ending his sentence he finally let her close the door.

**/ so here is chapter 14. Hermione´s top is not fully lace but just a short part at the top so he does not undress her. Hope you liked it.**

_**Review, please?**_


	15. Chapter 15

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

15

After his statement about bursting her cherry as he had so nicely phrased it Hermione kept as far away from him as she could and stopped talking to him at all. On top of her other problems her friends started to doubt her relationship with Blaise as they never saw them kiss or do anything more than holding hands. But simply kissing him in front of everyone to proof them wrong was not an option. Everything was weighing down on her. School, her fake relationship with Blaise, Head duties, the whole thing about Malfoy and of course keeping up with the mass of lies she had told so far.

It seemed her world only consisted of lies and she was sick of it. Yet she still had the same fears. She feared the reaction of her friends. Every night came with horrible nightmares and when she lay awake on her bed the guilt nagged on her conscience. Often she would wake up her face wet with tears or would suddenly disappear for the tears forced their way out and she cried uncontrollably for minutes in some broom closet.

From time to time she would project the hate she felt for herself upon others. Then she barged into Snape on purpose for he had fallen for Malfoy´s lies or had simply let him get through with it or snap at Lavender for if she and Malfoy had not been it would be her at the side of Ron now. Hermione took out her hate on everyone except the person who had started this hell of a life she had to cope with.

Malfoy was a taboo, too frightening with much power over her. One of his mood swings and he would definitely go to her friends and tell them the truth.

It was one of those times again when Hermione stood in front of her mirror and stared at what she had become. This thin, unhealthy pale girl who looked at her out of tired eyes felt like a stranger. A smile was displayed on her lips, a fake one. She had plastered this fake smile so often upon her lips that it looked quite real right now.

A bracelet dangled from her wrist. Blaise had given it to her as a present, partly to keep up the whole relationship pretence partly to lighten up her mood. The pendant was the shape of a lion. Brave and fearless like you he had told her. 

_Ts, a lion_. Right now she felt more like a rabbit, hiding in her room afraid of everyone and everything.

The girl stood in her tidy bedroom. Everything was in place, her books arranged according to topic. Neatly, orderly, _perfectly_- like all the things she did. The silence in her room was so contrary to the noise in her mind. Rage soared up in her. With one arm she swiped all the things off the shelf next to the mirror. The clanking was music to her ears. Next she opened one drawer after another and threw the insides out. Socks, shirts, knickers lay scattered around on her floor. Soon parchment and ink followed. The pillows and the duvet from her bed were the last things to fall to the floor. Only one thing was left untouched by her: her books.

Breathing laboriously she lay on her bed and felt relieved. All the hate and worry was gone. Exhaustion alone was what she felt right now. She did not know why but she could not stop herself from laughing. Why she laughed she had no idea. Maybe at the irony of her situation, maybe at her force of destruction. Energy ran through her body. It seemed like the lock that had shut it in a box had broken and now she had more than enough. A confidence suffused her.

The mewing of Crookshanks disturbed her thoughts. The tom cat sat on the floor looking up at her asking. When she wanted to pick him up she saw that he was sitting right next to her watch. Time had flown by without her noticing.

"I see. I should get ready. Thank you, Crookshanks.", she said and patted his head. "So, let´s see what I will wear for Slughorn´s Christmas party tonight." Looking around at the clothes which lay on the floor she picked up a black golden dress but soon noticed the ink on it. Her eyes wandered over the mess and when she saw her red dress a smile spread on her lips. Gryffindor red. Satisfied with her choice she observed herself in the mirror. She did not care to straighten and tame her hair; somehow today she was glad she had this wild mane. Bold red lips completed her look.

Something warm and soft touched her leg. Crookshanks was rubbing his head against her in approval. In a couple of minutes Blaise would come to pick her up. Full of anticipation she went into the common room.

There the person sat she wanted to forget his very existence. His smirk upon her entrance was the last straw. Hermione would no longer be a goody-goody. Her patience for him had reached its end.

"Why are you smirking, Malfoy?", she asked sweetly. The smirk widened but whatever he would say she would make sure that this smirk would vanish.

"Well, I just thought of all the ways to punish you for doing your little act with Zabini."

"Oh, _boo-hoo_, I´m already so afraid I think I will cry." Wiping away a fake tear she laughed right into his face. "I will never be afraid of you again, Malfoy, because although I may have this ring glued to my finger you do _not_ own me." Malfoy frowned and a deep wrinkle appeared on his forehead.

"So, are you really going to wear your school uniform to Slughorn´s party?" Regarding him with a dismissive look she saw how he did not like this situation.

"Now _listen_, Granger, firstly I can wear whatever I want and secondly I won´t go to that stupid party." With saying that he had made himself the perfect target for her so she crossed her arms over her chest and smirk, a smirk that was very similar to his usual one.

"No, Malfoy, _you_ listen. I know very well why you won´t go. You cannot accept the fact that you are not the center of the universe. Harry is a better man than you are and deserves his praise unlike you. Everything you have ever accomplished you accomplished with money and the influence of your family name." Seeing her triumph already within reach Hermione did not retreated when he stalked towards her but even took one more step towards him.

"And do you know what the saddest part about this is? All the things you do, you do not do for yourself but to impress your father. Living up to your father´s expectations is your only goal." Malfoy looked furious and towered over her dangerously but she was not willing to stop.

"Draco Malfoy, a copy of his Death Eater father. Just as mean, narrow-minded and evil. If you keep up with what you are doing I´m sure you will soon join him in Azkaban." Although she had not meant to be so rude and mean she had said it.

Hermione had always imagined that treating Malfoy the way he treated her would feel good but it felt horrible. Never in her life had she uttered something this awful and even Malfoy who had been her tormentor for so many years did not deserve this.

"I am not like my father.", Malfoy stressed every word with his eyes closed. Hermione had such a good run with Malfoy that she could not stop herself from snorting even though she already felt terrible about the things she had said and only worsened it be doing so.

"I. Am. Not. Like. My. Father. How _dare_ you talk about me like that! _You_ have No Idea about me!" The Malfoy façade was gone completely and there he stood, the real Draco Malfoy. By saying all those nasty things about him and his father she had gotten him so enraged that he lost his composure. He had shouted so loud at her that she could hear bells ringing in her ear afterwards.

His hand hovered in the air, ready to slap across her face. The hand never came close to her face. He stood there unmoving and breathed deeply. A knock on the portrait door released Hermione from her paralyzed state.

"_I´m sorry_.", she whispered and ran for the door feeling ashamed of herself.

At the party there was no trace of her former energy. Hermione was gloomy and always thought back to what had happened in the common room. Even Blaise noticed it and asked her countless times if something had happen but her answer was always the same: I´m fine. He was such a good friend, tried to make her smile yet she could not stand being treated this nicely right now.

So under the pretense of wanting to search for Harry she left him alone and walked around the room keeping her distance to other people. She passed one of the curtains when Harry pulled her to him.

"Hermione.", he whispered. Closing her eyes tightly she took a deep breath steeling herself for his worried questions. The questions never came instead he said something she could not believe: "I think Malfoy is planning something. He has been all secretive since he came back for school."

Surprised by his proposition and feeling panic rise in her she gasped:"Why would you think that?"

"Hermione, he has probably taken the Dark Mark."

"No, Harry." She shook her head not wanting to believe what he said. After all Malfoy had just shouted at her that he was _not_ like his father.

"So, why is he not at the party? He´s planning something, Hermione. Didn´t you notice anything?" Just when she opened her mouth to tell her friend once more that he had to be wrong the loud voice of Slughorn came to her ear.

"Ah, Mister Malfoy, I´m glad you could make it. You are just right for dinner." Harry opened the curtain and saw Malfoy shaking Slughorn´s hand.

Together he and Hermione went to the great dining table and sat down next to each other. Out of the corners of her eyes she could see how Harry stared at Malfoy. His eyes only left the blonde for some seconds when he replied to one of Slughorn´s questions. His target did not care one bit about his observation for Malfoy talked animatedly with some other people.

"Miss Granger, what do your parents do for a living?" Suddenly all eyes were on her which made her feel uncomfortable.

"My parents are dentists, they are doctors for teeth."

"Oh, that sounds very interesting. Is it a dangerous job?", Slughorn asked.

"Well, a patient once bit my dad." She had meant for it to be funny but nobody laughed except for Slughorn who did it out of pity so she felt embarrassed. Glad that he turned his attention towards McLaggen Hermione sighed in relief.

Yet when McLaggen did some lewd things with the cherry of his ice cream giving her this intense stare she could feel how a blush crept onto her cheeks.

"You seriously know no shame, McLaggen.", Malfoy hissed and took a quick glance at Hermione before his stormy eyes returned to McLaggen.

Choking on some brittle Hermione thought that this had to be a miracle. Had Draco Malfoy just really done something nice for her? Of course not but she did not know which words had yet to leave his mouth. Accepting the challenge Cormac pretended like he had done nothing wrong.

"What so you mean, Malfoy?", he asked cockily. Before Malfoy answered him the question he took his time with his spoonful of ice cream. Liking some of the cold sweet off his lips he leant back in his chair and looked at his opponent victory already twinkling in his eyes.

"You are flirting with an _engaged_ woman." Everyone became silent.

**so this is the chapter I bet many of you have waited for. I actually know that there was only finger food and no actual dinner at Slughorn´s christmas party but that way it was did you like this chapter?**

**BelleBelles: I laughed so hard when you said my story was similar to "The Bracelett" because it had a ring. I had already written the part about Hermione´s bracelett then and it was just it´s just a coincidence that mine has a bracelett ( without much meaning for the story)**

**thanks for all the reviews, especially to superstarem who wrote so many. You are all so wonderful.**

_**Review, please?**_


	16. Chapter 16

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

16

"Engaged? I don´t see any engaged women around here."

Hermione was in a state of complete panic. Instinctively she had wrapped her hand around her ring finger and pressed so hard that the finger went white. Only the small hope that this was one of Malfoy´s games and that he would not want to reveal that they are engaged kept her from fleeing the scene. Her mouth was dry as a desert and she felt how the sweat on her skin dried in the cold air. Curiosity was obvious in the eyes of the people surrounding her; they even inched closer to the table to hear the conversation better. The fake surprised look on Malfoy´s face, she wanted to scratch it off with her finger nails.

"Oh, I see. You did not do it on purpose." Malfoy wiped his mouth elegantly with his napkin. The tension in the room was almost touchable.

"I have to apologize, McLaggen. Of course you were clueless for she hides the ring with a spell." Up till then the identity of the engaged woman had remained a secret but McLaggen had to start staring at her. Shock and disbelief were displayed in the people´s faces when they slowly turned towards her.

"Mione, tell me that he´s lying.", Harry whispered. Never had she seen her friend this confused and it hurt so much that she could not tell him what he wanted to hear. If she looked one more second at her best friend to whom she had lied so much she would cry so she turned to Blaise for support.

Blaise wore his Slytherin face – emotionless, impenetrable, so much like Malfoy´s façade. They had reached a point where he could no longer help her.

"Come on, Granger, show them the ring. It´s no use to hide it any longer." She did not have to look at him to know how he looked at her. His eyes were venomous and deadly.

Like in slow motion she unwrapped her finger and placed her trembling hand on the table for everyone to see. There was no way to escape her doom so it did not help to delay it. The silence was complete for everyone held their breath and stared at her. It felt like needles pinning into her skin. Breathing became harder for her and her vision wavered. All her lies came crushing down on her, too much for her small body to cope with.

"Magnificent! Love at such young age. Both of you in my club. Wonderful! You should have told us earlier, Miss Granger, about the good news. You and Mister Zabini will make a perfect pair.", Slughorn spoke with glee. Ashamed Hermione bowed her head so nobody could see her face.

She released a shuddering breath and swallowed hard. This was the moment to take the victory from Malfoy by telling the truth for once herself before he did. She owed it to Harry. News like these should not be told to you by someone you hate.

Blaise pushed back in his chair abruptly and stood up.

"Please, excuse me.", he murmured and stormed out, never to come back. Staring at the empty chair she realized how his body had protected her from the cold air. Now it blew mercilessly against her shoulder.

"Nice fiancé you have there, Mione.", Ginny spat scornfully.

Her doom had come. Before Malfoy had even uttered one word she already knew that she had missed her chance to say the truth. His snicker was like a knife cutting into her skin.

"You are wrong, She-Weasel. Zabini is not and never has been engaged with Granger. Their whole relationship was an imposition."

Feeling horribly offended by what she thought was a lie Ginny snapped: "How would you know, _Malfoy_?" The predator smirk was in place and he licked his lips as if to taste his sweet victory.

"Of course I know because _I_ am her fiancé." Hermione wanted to pounce on Malfoy and strangle him but all her energy had left her together with the color in her face. Everyone stared at either her or Malfoy their mouths wide agape. Using this shock Malfoy spoke again this time in his sweetest voice.

"You look pale, _darling_. Aren´t you feeling well? I think we should leave so you can get some rest." He approached her and guided her by her wrist away from the table only glancing at the helpless Potter once.

This was his masterpiece. Everyone was so stunned by the news that they could not talk while they could not stop staring at the ill-matched couple. Granger was like a wax in his hands. Putting his arm around her shoulders possessively he looked back at the table one last time making sure to catch Potter´s expression.

As soon as the door was closed behind them he could hear the late results, the murmurs and whispers of rumors forming in there. It was quite possible that the news would make the front page of The Daily Prophet the next morning.

The girl in his arm kept silent while stumbling every once in a while. Her eyes were empty and her shoulder cold under his hot touch. To protect herself from what he had done she had shut herself in her own little world not noticing what happened in the real one. She did not even react to him waving his hand in front of her eyes.

So knowing that she would not realize a thing he did Malfoy let his façade drop and looked at her with pity. He pitied her so much that he even tried to sooth her by giving her shoulder a squeeze and rubbing it gently with his thump. None of this made it to her brain. Hermione was like a porcelain doll – fragile. Of course she had not always been one but the secrets and her fears had turned her into this and after what Malfoy had done to her by spilling the truth she had suffered some cracks. Thus she was more brittle than before. Every wrong word out of Malfoy´s mouth would enlarge those cracks until she broke into tiny pieces leaving no trace of the old Hermione. Aware of her state he did not talk.

Only the sound of their feet against the floor could be heard. It was a steady rhythm. Soon they entered their common room where Malfoy hesitated not sure if he should bring her into her room or simply leave her alone. He decided for the latter and was about to push the door handle down when he heard it. Finally overwhelmed by her feelings Hermione had sunk down to the floor and an ear piercing screech left her mouth. Tears were streaming down her face and she pulled on her hair out of despair.

Malfoy did not turn around to take in the sight of her for he feared for his plan. The plan was not something he could afford to mess up with so he pushed the handle down and disappeared into his room while Hermione crouched over the floor and wailed. The sound of her crying and sobbing was audible in there and although he could have cast a silencing charm he did not and took it in as his punishment to listen to her. After a good half an hour the noise ebbed away and the click of the portrait door could be heard.

Hermione had made a decision. It would be her who told Ron the truth. The next day a lot of people would have told him really bad things about her before she had even gotten the chance to talk to him so there was no time for her to wait. On the moving stairs she could feel the eyes of the portraits on her and the whispers. The news had spread fast.

Tears threatened to fall again but she forcefully swallowed them back. She could not be a sobbing mess when she wanted to explain everything to Ron. One after another stair moved and brought her closer to her destination and with that her agitation rose. Her agitation showed itself as a hard knob in her stomach which ached. She balled her hand to fists to keep them from trembling and stared at the painting of the fat lady with determination.

Stepping in front of the portrait she was covered in cold sweat and as white as paper. From the look the fat lady gave her Hermione knew that she was discussing with herself whether to ask her about the rumors or not. So close to her goal fear seized her and she mobilized all her will power not to run away. Instead she closed her eyes and took some calming deep breaths.

When the portrait door flung open Hermione was far from ready to face the scene in front of her. A confused and angry Ron stood right in front of her and stared. Behind him were Harry and Ginny who looked rather surprised because of her presence.

Ron was the first to recover and shouted: "Tell me it´s not true, Hermione! It can´t be!" The volume of his voice and the way he had said it made her flinch back. Her mind raced in panic to find words to tell him the truth. Roughly he took her by the shoulders and shook her.

"Hermione! Talk to me!" She had come to tell him the truth and now all words were stuck in her throat making it hard for her to breath. Never had she seen her friend this angry before. The longer she kept silent the stronger his grip on her shoulder became.

"Are you engaged with Malfoy?" Still the word would not cross her lips.

"Are. You. Engaged. With. Malfoy?" His angry voice echoed in her ears. The tears welled up in her eyes and the enraged face of Ron became blurry. His question was like a weight on her shoulders and she begged him with her eyes to stop it and understand her but she could not get through to him.

"ARE. YOU. ENGAGED. WITH. _MALFOY_?"

_Yes_- such a short word and yet it would change everything. The word had finally left her lips in a whisper.

"_NO!_", Ron ground out and shoved her away from him so she hit against the banister rail with her back. Loathing and disgust- that was displayed on his features. Seeing him look at her the fear of losing him made her lung towards him.

"Ron, please. Oh, please. Let me explain." She clawed at the front of his pajamas while hot tears made their way down her cheeks. His big hands enclosed around her wrists, his nails dug into her skin and ripped her away from him.

"Don´t touch me.", the hiss was like that of a snake – venomous. He pushed so hard that she fell to the floor hitting her head against the stone banister.

"_Ron_.", she sobbed. "Listen to me."

"We are done!", he roared at her and turned towards the portrait hole.

"I don´t want to see your face ever again." The coldness in her voice made it clear to her that he meant what he said. To him she would be dead from now on. Defeated Hermione stood up and stepped onto the stair so that it would take her away from that place.

**/ so how do you like the reaction on the news. I think I got Slughorn quite well because I´m quite sure he would be over the moon knowing that two of his favorits would breed just another MAGNIFICENT wizard.**

_**Review, please?**_


	17. Chapter 17

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

17

Hermione had sobbed herself into a dreamless night. When she awoke she did not care to go down to have breakfast just so everyone could see how awful she looked. Packing her things for Christmas holiday her mind wandered back to what Ron had told her. There was still a pulsing ache at the back of her head.

An owl delivered the Daily Prophet but seeing her face as well as Malfoy´s on the front page she quickly threw it away not wanting to read whatever rumors and fake facts the people had come up with. The movement though made her come out of balance and she swaggered. It was the aftermath of Ron pushing her against the banister but the way to the hospital wing was long so whatever it was Hermione hoped that it would go away by itself.

She would not be able to take the looks people would give her. Everything she wanted to do was to get home to her parents as fast as she could. At home nobody knew about her mistake. There everything was okay. Her parents would certainly be glad when she told them she would not go to the Weasleys this time so she could spend more time with them. Just another lie but that did not matter any longer. Only things she really needed for the holidays went into her trunk. It would be the first holiday without learning. There were other things she would spend her time on – family.

School books reminded her of Hogwarts and that was the place where the worst thing in her life had happened.

One of the advantages of being the Head Girl was being allowed to use the fire place to floo anywhere. Hermione liked travelling by train far better since the sensation of flooing were just unpleasant but in her situation flooing was just right.

Malfoy´s trunk was already in the common room but he himself was nowhere in sight so Hermione relaxed. The fire place was not broad enough for her and the trunk so she sent it home first. She would knock it over if her parents did not take it out but she did not care. The trunk disappeared in the green fire and she bent down to get into the fire place. Blood rushed into her head and she felt how she slowly slid to the right. If she had not held on to the wall she would have hit her head again. Closing her eyes she tried to regain balance again for everything swirled around her. The room was moving like crazy and Hermione felt sick. These were no good signs. A muggle doctor would have to have a look at her head before it got worse.

"Ugh.", she pressed out and leant her head against the cold stone of the fire place and took deep breaths. Her breaths became steadier and she drifted off into sleep.

The next thing she felt was something soft below her head. Warm and comfortable, nothing like the cold hard floor she had fallen asleep on. Confused she opened her eyes. From what she saw she figured that she lay on the couch in the common room.

"Finally you are awake.", Malfoy´s familiar voice snarled. In one rushed move she sat up but lay back soon again when the swirling feeling returned.

"What did you think you were doing there? Dying? I won´t take the blame for that." Pinching the bridge of her nose she the swirling lessen but still she did not find the energy to talk. A cocky platinum eyebrow rose.

"I see. You are not talking to me." The trademark smirk appeared. "Well, I just meant to inform you that my mother expects you at the manor on the third day after Christmas. She wants you to stay for the rest of the holidays then."

The news made Hermione groan for there was not enough energy for words or even whole sentences. Malfoy got up and pulled the blanket off her body and tossed it over the armchair he had been sitting on.

"I´m not planning to stay here the whole day, Granger." He maneuvered his arms under her neck and knees and lifted her up. Without her wanting it to happen her head rolled against his chest and she heaved in her breaths. The thing about being carried did not help her state one bit – quite the contrary. When he pressed her against his body to fit her into the fire place she whimpered. He did not let her slump but gently sat her down.

"Ah, before I forget it. These are yours." Reaching into his travelling robe he pulled out two letters and a note and placed them under her hand. The last glimpse Hermione caught of Malfoy before he threw in some floo powder and called her address was an expression she did not quite know what it meant.

Arriving so much later than her trunk her parents were very concerned and even more when they saw what condition she was in. They immediately took her to the next doctor who gave her some medicine and told her to rest.

And so she did. In the mornings she would have breakfast with her parents before she went into their comfortable living room to lie on the couch and reread one of her favorite muggle books. When her mother came home she would talk with her about this and that while Jean filled her in about what had happened so far. After lunch she would enjoy some muggle television. Her life was back to normal but the closer Christmas came the closer came the day she had to go to Malfoy Manor.

The day before Christmas was the first time she paid attention to the letters and the note Malfoy had given to her. One letter was written on normal parchment sealed with red wax. It was from Blaise and she already knew that it was an apology so she felt no need to read it. The other one was written on fine white parchment and sealed with black wax. Into the wax a crest had been pressed Hermione knew to be the Black family´s. This one she opened although she feared to read whatever Mrs. Malfoy might have written.

_Miss Granger,_

_Having heard about your engagement with my son, Draco, from the paper I have to say I am quite indignant. Still I do not know the reasons for keeping this information from me and I will not blame you for holding it back because I can imagine why you would do that. As my future daughter-in-law I wish to learn more about you and how could this be better done than by staying with me and Draco at Malfoy Manor. After all you will be moving in with us after the wedding as it is the duty of a Mrs. Malfoy. I am looking forward to welcome you in our home the third day after Christmas._

_Narzissa Malfoy_

Everything was very polite but Hermione could read between the lines. There all the anger about the secret engagement and the fact that it was with a muggle-born who had had the audacity to make fun of her in front of her friends stood. It might seem like an invitation to somebody who had never met Mrs. Malfoy before but she knew it was an order.

The note was written in Malfoy´s neat hand.

_Granger,_

_If you do not arrive at the manor at 10 a.m. I can guarantee you that I will personally come to fetch you. By force if I have to_

_Malfoy_

All the horror of what had happened came back and she felt tears run down her face and fall onto the note.

**/ so this is chapter 17**

**well nothing much happened I guess. **

**Next chapter will be in Malfoy Manor and I will introduce another HP character into the story. Guess who!**

**I hope after the next chapters people will no longer be that angry with Draco XD**

**Review, please?**


	18. Chapter 18

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

18

Christmas was bittersweet. On the one hand she enjoyed her time with her parents but on the other hand there were no presents from her friends and the date she had to leave for Malfoy Manor drew closer.

Her parents had been very disappointed when they heard that she was leaving so soon. The fact that there had been no presents from her friends did not stay unnoticted by the Grangers but Hermione quickly explained this oddity with the lie that they wanted to exchange the presents back at school to watch the others unwrap them. The mention of her friends was like a knife to the heart but she endured the pain and answered the questions more or less for her parents had always cared to know about her friends.

The day of her departure arrived way too soon and she had to bite back her tears when she said good bye. Of course the Grangers believed that their daughter would stay with the Weasleys like she had done often before and had no clue of her true destination. The feeling of flooing pulled her into a loop before she found herself standing in a high and broad fire place.

On the white marble floor the sound of her steps was loud and full. Above the fire place was a large painting in a fine golden frame. The room was spacious and every piece of furniture looked more expensive than anything she had ever owned.

10 strikes. The sound of the hall clock echoed through the room and right on time her tormentor came down the long marble stair case. Only the sight of him made Hermione flinch and the urge to run away was great. Elegantly he made his way down the stairs.

"Heneban!" A nervous house-elf clad in a green rag appeared next to Malfoy. He lowered his head so much that its ears touched the floor.

"Master Malfoy has send for it." Malfoy did not even deign to look at the creature.

"Take her trunk into her room." Eagerly the elf limped towards her and heaved at the handle. The elf´s strength was not enough to make the trunk budge even one inch.

"Heneban, I can carry it myself.", Hermione whispered softly and reached for the handle. Confused the elf look up at her with fearful big eyes.

"It are Heneban´s duty, Miss.", it squealed.

"Granger, leave it alone. My mother expects you in the drawing room. Follow me.", without waiting for her he turned and passed through a tall dark wooden door. Although she wanted to help the elf she did not dare to make Mrs. Malfoy wait so she made long strides to catch up with Malfoy.

Catching up meant for her to walk some paces behind him, not wanting to stand under his intense stare or talk to him. He opened several more doors and took her along hallways where the portraits of the Malfoy ancestors glared at her. Below each golden framed portrait was a golden plate with the name of the person. Platinum hair and pointy faces seemed to be very common in the Malfoy family. On the left were the Malfoy men on the right opposite to their husbands the women. All of them looked haughty and self-loving. Still they were all extraordinarily beautiful and graceful. From what Hermione could read on the name plates all Malfoys only had one child, a son – the heir.

Sudden light made her shield her eyes with her hands. A couple of seconds later when her eyes had adjusted to the light she found herself in a grand room. Like all other rooms there was only the finest of furniture but there was still a comfortable atmosphere.

"Ah, there you are, Miss Granger.", unlike the times she had talked to Mrs. Malfoy her voice held some kind of emotion. Although Hermione did not like the woman she felt the need to be polite and smile.

"Hello, Mrs. Malfoy." The woman returned the smile, well what Malfoys would call a smile because the corners of her mouth raise only slightly.

"Come sit with me." The woman gestured at an upholstered settee. Doing as she was told she sat down opposite to the woman and looked at her. Like when she met the woman for the first time Mrs. Malfoy scanned her.

"I believe you still have a lot of things to do, Draco." It was not concern but her wish to talk to the girl alone. The click of the door closing behind Malfoy made her feel nervous.

"Dongabe." The appeared out of nowhere.

"Mistress has called." Just like the elf she had seen minutes ago bowed deep.

"You can serve the tea now." Before she disappeared she stole a glance at Hermione. The tea set was of porcelain with a gold edge. The silence while the elf poured them each a steaming cup of tea and Mrs. Malfoy helped herself to some shortbread was like torture. The expression on the woman´s face gave nothing away. No sign of emotion. Unreadable. And not knowing what would happen next was the worst so Hermione merely sat there her cup in hand and waited for whatever would come. The sound of her sipping her tea and eating the shortbread made Hermione fidget.

"The Malfoy family…", Mrs. Malfoy finally broke the silence. "… has been a respected family in wizarding society with great influence from time immemorial. We possess a fortune you can probably not imagine, Miss Granger." Hermione knew that she would not like whatever Mrs. Malfoy would say next so she gulped and braced herself.

"With joining the family you will have a lot of duties and I do not want the reputation of my family destroyed because of you. By marrying my son you will have the same influence as him and so I want to ask you to use it wisely." Actually she had believed that the woman would force her son to end the engagement but she spoke of marriage and Hermione becoming the future Mrs. Malfoy like it was a given. Her hands began to tremble at the inevitable. The cup clattered against the saucer and she even spilled some of her hot tea onto her hand. Unmoved by her reaction Mrs. Malfoy moved her cup to her lips and took another sip.

"Is something the matter, _dear_?" It was like a stab to the heart. Although the woman in front of her should despise her for the fact that she was only _muggle_-born and hate her for being engaged to her son Mrs. Malfoy acted like she did not care. Hermione swallowed hard and tried to muffle her sobs. Hiding her crying face by bowing her head she tried to find a way out of it.

"I don´t want to marry your son."

It came out as a whisper and she was not even sure if the woman had heard her until she said after taking another sip from her tea: "The decision has been made and the ring binds you."

With this her last hope was gone. Mrs. Malfoy had slammed the door out of this engagement shut right into her face. Sobbing filled the room and she felt like crying out loud.

"May I ask where the bathroom is?" Close to a nervous breakdown she still wanted to keep her manners. After the woman had told her direction she slowly left the room and hastily ran down the corridor.

Her stomach flipped and turned. Just in time she made it into the room to throw up. The room seemed to close in on her and she felt thoroughly sick. Tears rushed down her face and she gasped for breath before another load found its way into the toilet. Only when her stomach was completely empty and her throat felt like it was on fire could she stop. A look into the mirror showed her the horrible state she was in. Her eyes were hollow and her face had a sickly almost green color.

A plate with peppermint that surely had not been there when she had entered the room was very useful to loose the stench.

A loud argument reminded her of the fact that there was someone waiting for her to return. What presented itself to herself was truly strange. Mrs. Malfoy was not her composed self but looked livid and even a little frightened while the other woman gave her a flaming glare.

**/ oh, there she is: Mysterious Woman. So any idea who it might be? Mrs. Weasley? Mrs. Zabini? Bellatrix? Astoria´s / Pansy´s mum? or someone else?**

**you´ll have to wait ... muhahahahahahah!**

**so Malfoy´s reasons will be revealed soon so that means you´ll get to know what happened that night at Snape´s office.**

**Thank you all so much for 50 reviews!**

_**Review, please?**_

Dogbane and Henbane are poisonous flowers and the house elfs names are derived from those.


	19. Chapter 19

**so I have been reading _The Bracelett by AkasheTheKitty_ for the last few days and I have to say I loved it. It really wonderfully written and I can only recommend it. The 70 chapters you have to read before they finally have sex are truly worth it!**

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

19

"How can you do this? Is this one evil scheme of yours? For you cannot make me believe you would willingly allow your son to marry someone of _inferior_ blood!", the woman spat the word. Mrs. Malfoy stepped back from the shouting other. Not feeling safe with drawing the attention to her Hermione kept silent and hid behind the door. This could end badly for her because the woman was clearly a muggle-hater.

"It´s not something I decided and I cannot change it." There was the rustling of clothes and a gasp.

"Narzissa, do not do this to me. I want to know the truth." How the woman hissed the name was still showing some concern.

"Let go of me! It has been a long time since you last had any influence on me.", Mrs. Malfoy snapped back. Her sentence was closely followed by a loud clap and the sound of someone stumbling to the floor. From where she stood she could see Mrs. Malfoy lying on the floor pressing a hand to her cheek.

"Do not talk to me like this.", the voice of the other woman had turned cold."I will not let you get through with this."

Having tried to fire a spell at her attacker Narzissa now was defenseless after being disarmed. "I don´t even want to know which curse you meant to shoot at me." A blue light shot out of the tip of the woman´s wand and straight at her victim´s face.

"You will listen." From the reaction of Mrs. Malfoy Hermione figured that she had glued her tongue to the roof of her mouth with the _Langlock_ jinx.

"I do not understand your reasons for wanting this marriage to happen but I know that you want it because otherwise you would have told Miss Granger that there is a very strict protocol on how to accept the proposal. Don´t look at me like this." The expression on the woman´s face was pure horror. "You might have forgotten about it but you certainly know it. After all it has been me who told you about it." She moved her wand to put a loose strand out of Mrs. Malfoy´s face. It was almost a loving gesture if it had not happened under those circumstances.

"I will make sure this ring is off her finger before the holidays end."

She went around the table, sat down and took Hermione´s cup of tea to sip. "I see Jasmine tea is still your favorite." While the woman kept on drinking her tea eating some shortbread in between her sips Mrs. Malfoy kept lying on the floor, her eyes wide in shock. A long silence spread and Hermione would have made a run for it if she had not heard about a possibility to get rid of the ring. This little hope made her strong enough to keep standing where she was.

"You know what makes me sad about this, Zissa?" A nickname, so the two of them must be familiar and former friends. After the woman did not tell her the reason for her sadness Mrs. Malfoy got into a sitting position and looked at her. Somehow Hermione could not place the emotion on Narzissa´s features. It looked like something between sadness and guilt.

"We had been so close until it all changed the day I told you about my intention." A humorless laugh. "You were so repulsed by the thought of me wanting to marry someone we had been taught to hate that you hated me for it. You turned you back on me. I could have taken it from everyone – mother, father, Bellatrix- but not from my loved little sister." 

_Sister!_ Hermione´s brain went wild. Were there not just two Black sisters? And the one sitting on the settee definitely was not Bellatrix. She had brown wavy hair.

"You called me a _traitor_." There was a sound which was very similar to a sob. "And now you will just accept a muggle-born in your family." Mrs. Malfoy turned away and although Hermione could not see her face she believed that at this moment she looked ashamed.

"I may no longer have the influence of our family name, Narzissa, but I still know certain people so prepare to meet me in front of the Wizengamot." The woman turned to someone Hermione could not see from where she stood and said: "I guess we should get going."

"Fine.", a female voice answered. Somehow Hermione remembered this voice but from where? When a white thread of light made its way around the door and straight at her she shrieked and jumped back.

"Ah, there she is.", again the same female voice. "Hey, Hermione.", she was greeted by a woman with short pink hair.

Tonks!

_Of course!_

There had been a third Black sister. How could Hermione have forgotten about that. The third sister had been removed from the tapestry in Grimmauld Place because she had married a muggle-born.

"Tonks…", she mumbled still a little overwhelmed by the situation. Tonks grinned and took her hand. Being dragged into the room Hermione got a good glance at Mrs. Tonks for the first time. Her facial features were similar to those of Bellatrix but less hard and edged and her eyes had a certain warmth to them. The woman smiled reassuringly at her before turning once more to her sister.

"Call one of your house elves to fetch her stuff. I don´t want to stay here forever, Narzissa." Reluctantly the woman did as her older sister had told her to and when they had made their way to the entrance room with the grand fireplace Hermione´s trunk already waited there for her. Hermione walked with Tonks while Mrs. Tonks walked ahead closely followed by a helpless looking Mrs. Malfoy. Never would Hermione have imagined anyone of the Malfoy family to be able to display so much emotion, especially of this kind. Her trunk was put into the fireplace first.

When Hermione turned around she saw a shocked and furious Malfoy standing at the stairs.

"What do you think you are doing?", he hissed directly at her.

It was Mrs. Tonks who answered: "We are taking her with us."

"No!", he barked and stormed down and grabbed her wrist. "She is going _nowhere_." The hold was so tight it would leave a red mark.

Mrs. Tonks ignored his outburst and addressed her sister. "I guess this is good bye, Narzissa." As she was about to say something her older sister silenced her with just a movement of her hand. "Save your words for the trial." That made her awestruck.

Then Mrs. Tonks approached her nephew and placed her hand around his wrist. His eyes did not leave that of Hermione´s. His look was so intense she felt like it would burn into her skull.

"Let go of her, boy.", she commanded in a even voice.

"I won´t." If it was even possible he tightened his grip on her and made her wince.

"You are very ill-behaved." Behind her Mrs. Malfoy stared at her sister with a mixture of shame and shock.

"I guess you have gotten that from your father." Malfoy´s head snapped around to glare at her. The mention of his father let him forget about his hold onto Hermione´s wrist and so she could free herself. The look in his eyes was positively murderous. Besides the look he gave her Mrs. Tonks did not seem worried at all.

"Dora, please go ahead with Hermione. I will be there in a minute." Nodding Tonks dragged her to the fireplace because she could not tear her eyes from the scene.

"Listen, boy, I do not know your reasons for forcing Hermione into wedlock but I´m sure they are selfish and not very honorable so I will make sure it won´t come this far. You will not corrupt her. She will be free in a couple of-" The rest of the sentence Hermione could not hear for the green flames enveloped her body and she soon found herself in another house.

There she was greeted by Remus and an older man she supposed to be Mr. Tonks. Like Mrs. Tonks had said she was coming out of the fireplace mere seconds later. Afterwards Mrs. Tonks lighted a fire in it so she could warm up.

"How did you know?", Hermione stuttered still surprised y the fact that she was sitting on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate in her hand and an escape route from wedlock ahead of her.

"Harry and Ron were quite … well, how to call it …. upset when they arrived at the Grimmauld Place and of course the story had made front page of the Daily Prophet. When you were not at home we figured you would be at Malfoy Manor.", Lupin explained.

"My parents know now?", it shot out of her and she had almost choked on her hot chocolate. Mr. Tonks placed a hand soothingly on her shoulder and shook his head.

"They were not at home when we searched for you but there was no sign that you were at home at all." They were all really nice to her and promised her that she would be freed from the ring in not time.

The trial would be in two days. In those two days neither Harry nor Ron showed up although Tonks had said that they might do so. Hermione could understand them. They were angry with her and she deserved it. Gaining their trust again would need time.

* * *

><p><em>Blaise,<em>

_you no longer have to feel sorry for not having been able to help me. Soon the trial for my freedom will start and then all this will be in the past. I was never mad at you for leaving me that evening at Slughorn´s party. Although you might think you do not deserve it I have to thank you for all you have done for me._

_Your friend_

_Hermione_

The letter was dated a few days ago. Owls took longer to deliver letters in snowstorm like these.

Not thinking twice Blaise left for Malfoy Manor. The entrance hall was dark and no house elf was in sight. No good sign. Yet Blaise did not need one to know where to find his friend. From the information he had gathered from the letter Blaise knew that Malfoy could not be too happy about this turn of events so it was no surprise to find him in the study with a whisky glass in his one hand and a half empty bottle in the other one.

"Go away!", he slurred. "Leave me alone!" Grinning at the miserable state of his friend Blaise approached him and sat down in one of the armchairs.

"What kind of _friend_ would I be if I would leave you like this?"

**/ dun duuun duuuun. Mystery woman´s identity was revealed and it´s Andromeda Tonks. I think she did not get enough attention in the books and in the films they did not even care to let her appear ( I was so DISAPPOINTED!)**

**so how do you like this twist?**

**What´s Blaise´s agenda?**

**Will Hermione be freed or is she already? **

**Well, you´ll have to wait until next chapter.**

_**Review, please?**_


	20. Chapter 20

**okay about the NarZissa thing - I´m German and in the German version it is written with a Z and I like it that way**

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

20

Draco sent him a glare that would have made anybody else flinch and flee at once but Blaise merely took a glass and helped himself to some firewhiskey.

"So, care to tell me why you are this … this much in a need for a drink?" His friend snorted in response and snatched the bottle away from his hand and took a swig.

"You know very well, Zabini. Damn bastard are probably here to delight in my misery." A soft chuckle escaped Blaise´s throat. He was used to those kinds of insults. Empty words.

"Misery? I thought you would be glad to get rid of Granger before it´s too late. After all this was just for you to have _fun_ by making her uncomfortable. Being the topic of the day surely must have made her really uncomfortable so you have achieved-"

"Shut it, Zabini!", he growled. An amused smile played along his lips at his friend´s outburst. Malfoy was easy to play.

"What? Are you not satisfied yet?" A glare was sent at him that meant death for any more provocations. "Oh, come on, Draco. I know you quickly grow tired of things. Could it be that you secretly have a thing for Granger?" The whiskey bottle shattered against the wall and sharp tiny pieces fell onto the carpet.

"I do not have a thing for her."

It was the truth. Being friends with Draco for long enough Blaise knew when his friend lied.

Draco massaged his temples with his fingers. Distress and frustration clouded his mind.

"You did not need the ring to make her feel uncomfortable so there has to be another reas-" Seeing as Draco pointed his wand at him he did not dare to finish his sentence. With his hands above his head in surrender Blaise hoped to calm his friend. A drunk Draco sure was not very reasonable. Draco shook his head and blinked as if to get focus again and then sighed.

"Everything is messed up.", he spoke more to himself than to his friend. With one hand he brushed through his hair. This was when something caught Blaise´s attention. The damned ring was back on his finger.

"You are wearing the ring again." The blonde looked like a beaten dog at him.

"They made me take it from her at the beginning of the trial.", it came out in a hoarse voice. Pivoting the whiskey glass in his hand Blaise watched his friend.

"How much longer will the trial take?" Snorting Draco turned his head towards the burning fireplace.

"There is no reason she should not be free by the day after tomorrow if not even tomorrow." Groaning he let himself sink further into the armchair.

"Her freedom will be my doom." Memories of his talk to Snape came rushing into his mind.

_He had been really startled and surprised when his angry Head of House pulled him along corridors. _

_"Let go!", he hissed and struggled to get out of his viselike grip. "I don´t know what she told you but it´s not the truth.", he ground out as the grip did not loosen up but tighten. The next thing he felt was his head hitting against the wall because the professor slammed him against it. _

_"Do not play me for a _fool_, Draco." Cold and threatening. Wanting to answer something witty he opened his mouth but had to gasp for air since the professor now applied his grip to his throat. Fear rushed through him and he pulled at the hand which did not budge. The piercing feeling of someone invading his mind attacked him. _

No! Everything but that!

_Merciless Snape tightened his hold. The pain was too great to concentrate on his inner barrier so it did not take Snape long to invade. _

_The memory of his father being dragged out of their house after the Ministry incident flashed up. A couple of days later his aunt had appeared in the manor. Her reasons were not to calm down her desperate sister but to tell them how displeased the Dark Lord was with them and that someone had to make up for his failure. An honor. That is what she had called it. Shortly afterwards his mother had fled the manor with him in pretense to stay with a friend. Actually they were hiding and postponing the moment when Draco would have to take the Mark to become the Dark Lord´s loyal lapdog._

_ A pull. _

_Snape had removed himself from his mind. His face was stoic and gloomy while he waited for Draco to regain his breath. _

_"Follow me to my office." Without waiting for Draco who was still weak on his legs he turned and made his way down to the dungeons. The room was dark and oppressing. When Draco sat down on the chair opposite of Snape´s did the professor look at him again. _

_"Show me your Mark." _

_"I don´t have one." Snape gave him a glance that told him he did not believe so Draco pulled up his sleeve to reveal his flawless arm. Humming Snape closed his eyes and frowned. _

_"I take it that you are no Death Eater." _

_"Yes." Connecting the fingertips of his one hand with the one of the other hand Snape stared at him intensely._

_"Mind to explain your plan for I cannot see what Miss Granger has to do with this." _

_Draco swallowed hard before he spoke: "The Dark Lord will no longer want me when I choose a muggle-born for my wife. He will certainly want financial support from my family but hopefully not more." _

_Snape took his time to consider his reasons before he asked: "What if the Dark Lord will still want you as his loyal servant? And what about Miss Granger?" Of course Draco had thought of different options but becoming a Death Eater was one he did not like to think about._

About his next words Draco did not want to think about. He had known that his plan was not perfect but had there been another way he would have chosen that one.

* * *

><p>Hermione sat at a table in the Leaking Cauldron waiting for Blaise to show up. The note he had sent her had been quite urgent so she had made sure to be on time, even a little early, at the place where he wanted to meet her. To be honest she had not expected a note like that as answer to the letter she had sent him.<p>

A hand on her shoulder gave her a start and she whipped around to find a concerned-looking Blaise behind her.

"Ah, there you are." Roughly he jerked her up.

"Let´s take a walk." His behavior scared her somehow. The Blaise she knew was kind and friendly but this Blaise was dark. He placed his big hand at the small of her back and lead her out and down some streets until they were far away from the Leaking Cauldron.

**/ so here is the 20th chapter. Hope you like it.**

**how do you like Draco´s reason?**

_**Review, please?**_


	21. Chapter 21

**FYI: I posted the first chapter to my new Dramione fic "Mind Maddening Mirror" and will soon upload the first chapter to yet another new Dramione of mine and then let you decide on which to continue first. CWP had been on pause till now but will soon be continued as well.**

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

21

It seemed like they walked around aimlessly for Blaise stopped every once in a while to glance into a muggle café before dragging her into a different direction. Bumping into people and having a hard time to hold up with his pace Hermione soon became impatient.

Finally he seemed to have decided for a place to stay. It was a small café with only few tables. They sat down and the waiter brought them the menu. While Hermione already knew what she would order she saw how Blaise glanced out of the window a few times as if he thought they had been followed.

"Um, Blaise … is something wrong?" He looked at her as if he had just realized that she was there.

"Ah." The waiter came and took their order: a hot chocolate and black coffee.

"I must say that I would have thought you would be happier about my letter.", she confessed and glanced at him sadly. The dark Blaise melted in front of her eyes and then her Blaise was back and smiled at her.

"I was over the moon when I read it." Satisfied with what he said Hermione grinned.

"_But_…. I have to ask something of you, Hermione." Somehow she had a bad feeling about what he would say next and her grin faltered.

"I want you to marry Malfoy."

"What?" She must have heard him wrong after all the coffee machine was quite loud.

"I´m asking you to marry Draco, Hermione." Waiting for him to laugh any second and tell her it was all a joke Hermione stared at him. The laughter did not come and he looked very serious about it.

"You cannot be _serious_.", she hissed. Pinching the bridge of his nose he sighed.

"I am serious." She wanted to snap at him but he kept her from talking. "I have my reason, Hermione. Please, listen to me first." Although she did not care for his reason she liked him too much not to give him a chance so she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"I finally found out, Hermione. He is not all selfish about this whole marriage thing and the ring was never to make fun of you." Raising a eyebrow she urged him to explain. "The minute I received your letter I went to visit him. I have known Draco for such a long time that I knew he would be drunk and vulnerable and I was right. Eventually he told me his true reason to get you into this." At that she snorted.

"Malfoy can tell many lies when the evening is long enough. It seems that he never runs out of them." Blaise shot her a glare that made her fall silent immediately.

"I know when he lies and what he told me definitely was the truth." Their order was brought to their table and Blaise took a sip of his steaming coffee.

"Did you know that he stayed with me and my mother for the whole summer holidays?" She shook her head no. "It´s not uncommon among pureblood families although the Malfoys had never done so before but back then I did not think it strange. It was strange indeed. They were _hiding_. After his father had been caught and imprisoned you-know-who was really upset with them and demanded that Draco made up for his father´s failure." Almost spitting out her hot chocolate in surprise Hermione coughed.

"He´s a De-"

"_No_, he´s not!", Blaise snapped and gave her a look that questioned her how she could even think of something like that.

"If he had not taken action I bet he would be. Marrying you will keep him safe. But don´t think he is all selfish about this. Why didn´t you tell me that Weasley shoved you so hard that you hit your head and even lost consciousness?"

"How do you know about that?"

"See, that´s what I´m talking about. Ever since school started again he kept an eye on you so he knew that you would be okay." Huffing she crossed her arms over her chest again and stared out of the window. Could this really be true? A long period of silence passed before she looked at Blaise again.

"I think I have to leave." Looking crestfallen he still forced a smile on his lips and paid for them. He even helped her into her coat.

"Well, I have to go this way.", she said and pointed into the direction she planned to go. As an answer he merely nodded and walked off in the opposite direction.

She had just turned a corner when someone grabbed her arm and whirled her around.

"Okay, I know that what I have told you is hard to believe but please think about it." Cupping her face with his hands he gazed deep into her eyes. Not able to move her head Hermione saw the sincerity and the plea in his dark orbs.

"I can´t", she breathed although she knew it would hurt him. Blaise squeezed his eyes shut and looked as if she had just slapped him.

"I _care_ about you, Hermione … but you have to understand that as his _friend_ I care about Draco just as much. Believe me if I did think that he was all selfish about this I would _never_ have asked you to marry him." Seeing the fight for the right words in his eyes she felt bad about not being able to believe him but that she could not change.

Slowly he bent down and she could see that he planned on kissing her so she turned her head in last second so his lips connected with her cheek.

"Good bye, Hermione.", he whispered sadly and walked away never once turning back.

* * *

><p>The trial seemed to get to a closure a lot earlier than Hermione would have thought. Malfoy had indeed not followed the protocol needed to truly bind her to him and the judges decided that in her drunken state Hermione´s words did not count. Although she had told Blaise that she could not believe him she could not forget about his words either so she watched Malfoy. He was even paler than usually and looked positively sick. His lips were pressed into a thin line and his view was set somewhere far away. Yet whenever the judges stated one more reason why the engagement was not valid his left eye flinched and he would frown for the split time of a second. They got up from their seats to hear the verdict.<p>

To nobody´s surprise the judges had decided that Hermione would be free. Hearing this Malfoy swayed slightly and grabbed the back of a chair and dug his nails into it. Something really had to be wrong with Malfoy for his mother patted his back affectionately although Hermione thought she tried to hide this gesture from the others for if she had not looked closely enough she would not have seen it as well.

She pitied him.

After years of calling her names and making her life hell she still had it in her to feel pity for Draco Malfoy. Wishing she could stop this feeling Hermione still could not look away. Sure, Malfoy had his usual expressionless mask on but when you saw how deep he dug his nails into the wood of the chair you could see that even though he had done a good job in making you believe he was a heartless monster that he was not. After all he was a human being just like her.

A tap on her shoulder brought her back to reality.

"We should leave, Hermione.", Mrs. Tonks told her and smiled.

"Ah, yes, we should." Looking a little worried Mrs. Tonks scanned her face.

"Is something wrong, dear? You don´t look too happy." Feeling a little caught in the act Hermione blinked.

"Oh, I just can´t believe it yet." When she turned around the Malfoys had already left.

"Um, I´ll be right there. I just want to tell Malfoy something." Although Mrs. Tonks raised her eyebrow questioningly she did not voice her question but merely nodded.

The Malfoys had walked quite fast so Hermione had to run down the corridors that led towards the floo fire places. Like on many other occasions she cursed her short legs.

"Malfoy!" No option expect for shouting had been left. Out of breath she slowed down seeing that the two had stopped. When she finally stopped by them her cheeks were still rosy. Malfoy straightened so he towered over her dangerously and frowned at her.

"Are you here to laugh at me, Granger?", he asked in his cold even voice. Sighing she shook her head.

"No, I did not come here for _that_."

**/ someone said that they could not believe that Blaise was still buddies with Malfoy but I think he is a loyal friend. And he only went to Malfoy after eceiving Hermione´s note to find out about his reasons.**

**Any thoughts about the chapter? what do you think will happen next? how did you like Blaise´s conversation with Hermione?**

_**Review, please?**_


	22. Chapter 22

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

22

One of his platinum eye brows was raised and he carefully watched her.

"What would you want then?"

"The _truth_." By saying that she had the full attention of both Malfoys. First he looked a little stunned then he chuckled.

"The truth? I said anything that had to be said in there. Nothing left to tell you." She crossed her arms over her chest defensively and glared up at him.

"I want to know the true reason for why you would want us to marry. And don´t give me that _having fun with the muggleborn_ crap you spit out during trial." Giving her the haughtiest look he could muster he smirked.

"Well, then I´m sorry I cannot help you but _that_ was my reason.", he said every single word deliberately slow so she would be sure to hear him. Although she had told him not to give her that shit he had still done it and he paid for it. Hermione´s flat hand dashed down until it met with his face. A short gasp escaped Mrs. Malfoy´s lips but neither did she scold Hermione for doing so nor did she look too pitying. Again Malfoy chuckled while he held his cheek.

"Ah, I forgot. It´s because I _love_ you but I already told you this before." She was about to slap him again but just like he had done once before he caught her by the wrist.

"This never works twice, Granger.", he sneered and pulled her closer. "You should be glad that my mother is here for I no longer care about hitting a woman as long as it´s you." It was a dangerous whisper. Hissing into his ear she struggled until she was free from his viselike grip.

"I guess we are done here, Granger." Draco Malfoy really was a riddle for Hermione.

After all she knew what kind of situation he was in as well as his true reasons but still he was this proud and strong to keep his Malfoy façade up. Since she did not reply he nodded his head as a sign of him departing and turned around to continue his walk to the fire places. His back was broad and tense. Seeing him walk away just having one more argument of theirs was very mocking. And there she had been so close to believe every word from Blaise but the vulnerable Draco Malfoy was gone. Maybe she had only imagined it – Malfoy having a heart. As she watched him walk away she became angry at him for being like he was and not what she had seen during trial. If he was even one bit like she had imagined him to be she would be able to overcome her hatred.

"You know Malfoy I really believed you when you told me that you are not like your _father_. Now I think I was wrong about that." Right when she spoke the word _father_ Malfoy stopped and turned around very slowly. The look in his eyes made the blood in her veins freeze. This was not what she had expected. Sure, she had known that he would be angry but he was furious and blood lust was in his grey orbs.

In the blink of an eye he was right in front of her his arm raised to hit her. Afraid she had closed her eyes and shielded her face with her arm. Seconds passed and nothing happened. No pain shot through her body. Hesitantly she opened her eyes and put down her arms to have a look at Malfoy. Disgusted he gazed down at her. Her action had truly offended him. Nervous she bit her lower lip and tried to stand his stare. With his right hand he grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her closer.

"What makes you think I am anything like my father, Granger? The fact that I am no bloody Death Eater and do not plan to become one?" His breath was hot against her ear because he had leant forward so his lips were almost touching her ear. Trembling Hermione tried to get away from him. The close proximity made cold shivers run down her spine.

"Or is it because I could not give a fuck about touching a mu… muggle-born?" He had clearly wanted to say the word she had heard him call her so often. And for one brief second she was sure his tongue had touched her skin. Draco Malfoy had really licked her ear. The contact made her gasp. Feeling he uneasiness grow he chuckled, pulled her closer and tightened his grip.

"No, I know what it is. It´s because I would forget all about my _pride_ and marry _you_." After breathing the last word he let go of her and stepped back. His cold eyes locked with hers.

"I have nothing more to tell you, Granger.", he ground out and was about to turn when she grasped his left hand.

"_I, Hermione Jean Granger, hereby declare to wed thee._"

Shock was written all over his face. Under her fingers she felt the ring move. A hiss escaped Malfoy´s throat and shortly afterwards Hermione knew why he had done so because the snake bit her as well before closing around her finger. Surprised she had jumped back and stared at her hand. The last expression she saw on his face before he turned and stormed into a fire place was fury. Draco Malfoy really was a book with seven seals to her. In a flash of green he disappeared and left her with his mother who seemed to be frozen in placed staring at her in confusion.

What just happened felt like a dream – not real. Her decision had come out of nowhere. One second she was more than just mad at him the next she fully understood that jerk.

"Miss Granger." The voice was as if from far away although Mrs. Malfoy only stood some feet away from her. Slowly she took her hand and guided the girl to the fire places. Like some days ago Hermione found herself in Malfoy Manor.

Mrs. Malfoy told something to the house elves but Hermione could not care less. She was led into a pleasantly warm and comfortable room. It was very unlike the room she had last sat with the woman for tea. Together they sat there in silence and had jasmine tea. The taste did not fit to her current mood yet it helped to sooth her.

"So, how urgent is the wedding?", she asked in a matter of fact way. In this case she had to be calculating. From how Mrs. Malfoy reacted at her sudden speech and her choice of topic Hermione figured that it was very urgent.

"It should be scheduled as soon as possible.", she sighed. As a response she got a short nod.

The days until the wedding – two to be precise – Hermione spend mostly in the guest room laying on her bed and staring at the dark ceiling while asking her over and over again what had made her believe this was a good idea. She also thought about what might happen if Malfoy´s whole only supporting the Dark Lord with money plan did not work. The prospect of which was not very nice. From time to time she thought about her friends and what their reaction to her decision would be like but as soon as she began to imagine it she tried to think of something else.

Her trunk and Crookshanks appeared the day after she had sealed her fate out of nowhere. If Mrs. Malfoy had sent a house elf to fetch them or if Mrs. Tonks had sent them was of no importance to her.

During the meals she had with Mrs. Malfoy they did not talk except for the one time when Mrs. Malfoy broke out in tears and assured her of her eternal gratefulness. At that time her words meant nothing to Hermione. Never would Hermione have believed it that she would sow sympathy for Malfoy if someone had told her so a couple of days ago but she found herself more often wondering if Malfoy´s intentions had always been what she had thought them to be.

* * *

><p>Malfoy did not show up again at the Manor until the day of their wedding. Looking paler than usually with dark circles under his eyes he had come to take her to the registry office in the Ministry. Just like him she wore an all black ensemble. If you did not know about their intention you would believe that they would take part in a funeral. Hermione wore a long elegant dress which was lacey at the top while Draco wore a suit.<p>

The only other person besides the two of them and the marriage registrar was Mrs. Malfoy. Throughout the ceremony only the necessary words were spoken.

Although it had have to been clear to the registrar that there was no love between them he still told Malfoy at the end that he might kiss his bride. At that he had turned to look at her for the first time. For a split second his eyes lingered on her lips before he turned back to sign his name on the certificate of marriage.

_Hermione Malfoy_. It was strange to see this written in her own hand writing.

**/ so I hope this chapter did not disappoint you. If you are cuirous about what Malfoy has done during those two days you will have to wait until ... well let´s say almost to the end of the story.**

**did you like this chapter?**

**so next chapter will be their "wedding night"**

_**Review, please?**_

**The poll for my next story is open and in my profile so please go there and vote.**


	23. Chapter 23

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

23

Dinner was quiet and gloomy. Nobody talked more than was needed until Malfoy did something which scared her greatly. His mother had left the dining room early so they had been left alone. Having told her that he was tired and wanted to go to bed she had expected him to just leave but there he stood seemingly waiting for her to join him.

"Is something the matter, Malfoy?" Ever since she was now irreversibly bound to him she had turned cold towards him. Sure it had been her decision to marry him but she still gave part of the blame for it.

"You will spend the night in my room with me." At the thought of being alone with him and what might happen cold sweat covered her skin. The glass of wine she had neglected all evening was just right for her now and she gulped it down.

"I don´t think I understood what you said, Malfoy." Waiting for the moment he would tell it was all just a sick joke of his and laughing right into her face she stared at him.

"It is customary in the Malfoy family. Also it is rude to ask my wife to sleep in one of our guest rooms." Like all the countless times she had had a conversation with him he was cold and emotionless so she could only guess that he liked the idea as much as her – which is not at all.

Feeling energy rush trough her body she stood up abruptly and stated: "I like the guest room, you do not need to feel bad for me sleeping there." The expression on his face did not change. "It´s _really_ comfortable and the bed must be at least _twice_ the size of my own at home. There even is a bathroom you can only get into from my room." An arrogant blond eyebrow was risen.

"Every bedroom in this house has its own bathroom, Granger." Of course everything that seemed like pure luxury to her was only usual to him. Having glorified the guest room made her feel stupid and small.

"Oh, well I just wanted to say that I´m fine with sleeping in the guest room." The trademark smirk appeared on his lips.

"I´m glad you to hear that you like our guest room but this won´t change the fact that you will not sleep there tonight." The tone of his voice was absolute with only the slightest hint of amusement. Memories of a drunk Malfoy popped into her mind and within seconds she was scared and no longer able to move so instead she just stared at him.

"If you would follow me."

With a gesture of his hand he turned and slowly walked down the long hallway into the entrance hall and up the stairs. Never had she been there. He turned right. The hallways on this floor were broader and countless candles tinged the walls in their flickering soft light. Slowing down behind him she took her time for she was not too eager to get into the room and had a good look at every single painting on the wall. Unlike the others she had already seen those were no family portraits but flowers, animals and landscapes.

One of an elegant black dog seemed to want to sniff her which she found very funny. The magic of the picture had caught her that much that she had stopped. As a firm hand was placed at the small of her back it felt like electricity shot through her body.

"You will have enough time to look at everything soon." The feeling of his breath against her skin and the warmth of his hand on her back made her realize just how close he was standing to her. Gently he pushed her to walk on. Although she was back to her senses again and very capable of walking alone his hand did not leave her and it made her tense. Even he rubbing her back with his thump did not soothe her; actually it only made her more nervous.

When he opened the door to his room and she saw his huge, huge bed she wished he still found touching her the most disgusting thing in the world. The whole blood purity crap had been a pain in the ass for her but now it could have come in handy for her. Why did he have to decide to no longer care about it just _then_?

She was glad that he at least pulled his hand away and did not push her all the way towards – or rather onto- his bed. Instead of going straight to his bed he walked up to a door which revealed to be the entrance to his bath room.

"I think the house elves already prepared everything for you. Feel free to use it." Taking only a quick glance into the room she looked around the room as if searching for something. This something was her trunk with her clothes in it. After all there had to be a slim chance left that she just changed into her pajamas and went to sleep without anything _else_ happening … not like she really believed in this chance.

"What are you searching for?" Feeling embarrassed about her cluelessness she shyly put a loose strand of hair behind her hair.

"I´m searching for my trunk." With measured steps he soon stood next to a dark wooden dresser.

"I told the house elves to unpack your stuff and put it into the drawers. Why would you need anything from your trunk now?" A fiery red blush crept onto her cheeks. The thought of Malfoy wanting to sleep naked had come into her mind.

"Um, I need my pajamas." Nervously she shifted her weight on her feet under his intense look. A chuckled escaped his throat and he shook his head.

_HE SHOOK HIS HEAD!_

Did this really mean that he would deny her the sleep wear? The shade of red became deeper as she lowered her eyes to her feet.

"Have a look into the bath room, it should be lying there." Unlike what she thought he had not chuckled because the idea of her wanting to dress to sleep was oh so ridiculous but because he realized she would need to get accustomed to having house elves that did a lot of things for you. Before she could embarrass her more she paced into the bath room and shut the door behind her. True to his worth she found anything she needed in there and since his bathtub looked so inviting she let warm water pour into it. When she got out of the tub the skin on her finger tips had a strange texture and she felt a little dizzy. A fluffy bathrobe had been placed next to the tub and she wrapped herself into it. Soon she found her hair brush and began to tame her wet tresses. Her hair dried she took a look at the sleep wear for the first time and paled immediately.

With hasty steps she exited the bath room in her bathrobe and stormed towards the dresser.

"Was something missing?" Turning her head towards the source of the voice she quickly spun to the dresser again for Malfoy was sitting on his bed topless.

"Well, you could say so.", she muttered while opening one drawer after another.

"What do you need then?" Although she could not see him she knew he was watching her every move.

"My pajamas.", she stated.

"What about the ones in the bathroom? Is something wrong about those?" His questions unnerved her.

"Yes, there is something wrong. First of all it´s not pajamas in there, secondly it was not among my belongings and thirdly I will most certainly not put it on.", she was so upset that she had to keep herself from screaming. Finally in the last drawer she found her pajamas. Huffing she went back into the bathroom to come back a few minutes later in her pajamas. Seeing him stare at her she froze in her movement and stared back.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" She shook her head and forced her feet to move her to the bed. With trembling hand she moved the duvet so she could slip under it. Lying down she pulled it up so everything up to her neck was covered.

"Night." And by saying this he turned the light off and lay down. Just laying down and ready to fall asleep nothing more nothing less and still she felt incredibly nervous. Malfoy loved playing mind games with her so she anticipated him to attack her any second. When minutes went by without anything happening she began shifting around.

"Will you keep this up all night, Granger? For if you do I will have to tie you to the bed." In the blink of an eye she lay still and held her breath afraid that she would upset him more. Still she could not stay like this for long until she began to turn around endlessly again.

"What is it?", his voice was angry now almost like a growl. Taking a deep breath she wanted to tell him but no word would leave her mouth, not even a sound. A sigh could be heard from Malfoy´s side of the bed.

"Just say it.", there still was annoyance in his tone but also some kind of gentleness.

"It´s…..it´s just that you said…" The words she wanted to say did not seem to fit.

"I said what?" His impatience was back.

"The night you were drunk you told me you would … you would …" It was just too embarrassing to say it out loud and her voice faded into silence. The sudden light of his bedside lamp blinded her and she blinked to adjust her eyes. When she could see clearly again he was staring at her.

"I know what I said that night. Forget about it." Not believing his words she kept staring a little worried at him.

"I will not do anything to you, understood? Back then I just had a moment of weakness but I´m over it and it won´t happen again, so relax and go to sleep." Each word was spoken deliberately slow. From the look in his eyes she knew he was honest and she sighed in relief.

"Thank, Merlin." She had not meant to say it out loud and earned a roll of his silver eyes and a grunted: "You can really make a man feel good about himself. The thought of having sex with me must be truly horrible." Thankfully he did not sound offended.

Again darkness reigned in the room and now that her mind was no longer clouded with her worried thoughts she realized just how comfortable his bed was. It was like lying on a cloud in heaven. She was about to fall asleep when his deep voice pierced through the silence.

"How many children do you want?"

The question shocked her and she answered a little too fast: "None."

Snorting he spoke again: "Ts, don´t make me laugh. I meant how many children you would want if it was _not_ with _me_." Not knowing where her answer would lead her she thought about the purpose of the question but could not figure out why he was asking so she answered truthfully: "Three, maybe four."

Even in the dark room she could see his head turning so he could look at her although she could only see the outlines of his head on the white pillow. The sound of his deep breaths was hypnotizing.

"That´s fine with me. I guess it can still wait.", he whispered with a not too thrilled voice. Afterwards he shifted on his side so he faced away from her.

"We will go into Diagon Alley tomorrow to get some things." Those were the last words he spoke and soon his breaths came in an even rhythm. At some time in the evening she swore Malfoy had left the bed and did not return.

When she awoke the next day the space next to her was already or rather still empty and she could hear water running in the bathroom. A grinning Malfoy exited the bathroom and held the piece of clothing in front of him she had refused to wear in his hands.

"I can´t see your problem with wearing this.", he was teasing her.

"Then you can wear it." Shaking his head he laid it onto her dresser.

"Sorry, about that. I´m sure the house elves meant well." Playing with the tiny green ribbon on the front he smirked.

"I guess the color did not suit you." Actually she could not have cared less which color the negligee had for it showed way too much skin and would have invited him to do certain things she did not want to happen.

"Well, you can keep it. It´s not like I can give it to any other women now anyways." Her face blushing red and gaped at him.

_"You bought this?"_ Shrugging he went over to his wardrobe and pulled a white shirt out.

"That was years ago. It was meant as a present but I decided that it was not the right thing. I had already forgotten that I even had it."

The fact that he had held the negligee when he had come out of the bathroom had distracted her from the fact that he had only a towel wrapped around his hips and a smaller one around the shoulders. Even in their shared common room she had never seen him like this. Immediately she squeezed her eyes shut. This situation was just too awkward and Hermione needed a way out so after minutes of thinking she decided that the bathroom was the safest place. Without turning towards him again she ran for it.

**/ before anyone compains about me using _would_ in an _if-clause_: you CAN use would in an if-clause to make it more formal.**

**so how did you like this chapter? I hope nobody expected them to have sex XD**

**I updated Masquerade so please go there and read it. **

_**Review, please?**_


	24. Chapter 24

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

24

Thankfully Malfoy was already fully dressed when she came out again and the house elves had put some clothes for her into the bathroom so she did not have to change in front of him. After breakfast they went to Diagon Alley just like he had told her the evening before. Shortly before they went into the grand fire place to use the floo network he had told her: "Calling me Malfoy is not very _loving_ so refrain from doing so, please."

All the people in the Leaky Cauldron turned around and stared at them while Malfoy led her, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, towards the entrance of Diagon Alley. Hermione was glad it was cold so the flush of her cheeks could be because of the cold so the people could not be too sure that this sensation of being constantly stared at made her feel uncomfortable.

"You could at least try to smile.", he murmured into her ear as they headed into an alley with more fancier stores. Because she never needed anything very expensive or desired to go there she had no idea where they were going or what he wanted to do there. Finally they seemed to have arrived their destination and Malfoy opened the door for her like a real gentleman. From the sign outside of the shop Hermione thought they would sell something like decorative articles for the house but it was filled with jewelry.

An elderly man smiled and greeted them: "Master Malfoy, it´s been a while since I last had the honor to see you in my shop. What brought you here?" The man spoke with great respect and shook Malfoy´s hand before looking at her.

"This is my wife. I´ve come here because of her.", he stated all business-like.

"Ah. I have to congratulate you for finding such a beautiful flower." Without her even noticing the man had taken her hand and pressed his lips against the top of her hand.

"I think I already know what I can help you with." Smiling broadly the man disappeared through a door.

Wandering around the shop and having a look at all the sparkling necklaces and earrings Hermione wondered about their reason to be here.

"Do you want a necklace?", Malfoy´s voice asked from behind her. Feeling his close proximity she flinched.

"Um, no. What do we want to get here anyways?"

"A ring." From behind the door they could hear the man walking around busily.

"But I already have this ring and I cannot get it off my finger." She pointed at the snake and pulled at it in an attempt to show him that she really could not get it off.

"You need a signet ring." Raising an eyebrow she thought about it. Sure, she knew what a signet ring was but she did not know anyone who owned or used one. Malfoy began to rummage in his pockets and revealed two rings in his hand – signet rings.

"I brought those to give you an idea. That´s my mother´s and this is my old one." The first ring was silver with a flat onyx stone; the second was golden with a small emerald and two tiny diamonds. Both had some kind of emblem carved into the stone.

"Your old one? It sure looks as good as new." At that he grimaced for some reason she did not get and turned his hand so that she could see the ring on his thump. She was about to ask him about that ring when the man returned with a great variety of rings.

"So here are only the best for your charming wife, Master Malfoy." They both walked back to the counter where he had spread the rings and while Hermione bend over them Malfoy stood next to her and watched her.

"Hmm…." There really were a lot of rings and most of them were just amazingly beautiful so it was hard for her to make a decision.

"Please, try them on." Before she reached for a ring she looked up at the man to make sure it really was okay for her to try them on. The ring she had chosen was of white gold and the band was decorated with delicate flowers and sweeping curls. It was the most feminine thing she had ever seen in her life and the sparkle of the diamond fascinated her. A sigh escaped her mouth while admiring the ring but while doing so she also gazed at the prize which took her breath away and made her put the ring back as fast as possible. Afterwards she had a look at the prize before she even thought about trying it on. Half an hour flew by in no time until she had finally made her decision.

"I know which one I want.", she announced happily. Pointing at a golden ring with a ruby encircled by smaller diamonds she said: "This one." The man was just about to put the ring into a little box when Malfoy stopped him.

"That´s not the one she wants." Confused by his behavior she turned to him.

"This _is_ the ring I want." At the end of her sentences she lightly stomped her foot against the floor. Shaking his head he reached out for the ring she had first tried on.

"This is the one I´m buying."

"No, it costs a _fortune_!" One second he was rolling his eyes in annoyance the next he had wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her.

"You are lucky to have such a wife, Master Malfoy. Most women would have merely chosen the most expensive ones and not care one bit about it.", the man laughed and put the ring into a box. Chuckling Malfoy took the box and kissed her on the forehead.

Out on the street again she found her voice again and asked in a whisper: "What was _that_ about?" Pulling her closer to him with his hand on her shoulder he lowered his head a little.

"You wanted that ring, I watched you and money does not matter to me."

"I don´t mean that. You just suddenly kissed me."

"Oh, that. I saw someone of the Daily Prophet so I kissed you to make this whole marriage thing more convincing." The next shop they went into designed a crest for Hermione and engraved it into the diamond.

Back at Malfoy Manor a house elf Hermione had not seen before bowed deep.

"Welcome home, Mistress.", it squealed in a high-pitched tone.

"This is your own house elf from now on. Her name is Valy."

The words had hardly left his mouth was she already shouting at him: "I don´t need and I don´t want a house elf, Malfoy! You know I fight for elf rights since fourth year!"

Facing her with his cold eyes he said angrily: "I know that, Granger, and I do not care what you do with her. Just free her if you want to." Furious as she was she pointed at the elf who watched in confusion.

"Yeah, so I can do whatever I want to with her? What if I feel like cutting her fingers off, huh?", she knew what she had just said did not make any sense but she wanted to see his reaction. His reaction was to scowl down at her shake her by the shoulders.

"You crazy woman! You would never harm a house elf and I said you could do whatever you want because I trust in you not hurting her." Panting he crossed his arms over her chest and waited for her next move. Undoing the silk neckerchief she had used instead of a scarf Hermione went to the house elf which stared at her with big eyes and knotted it around her neck.

"I´m setting you free.", she breathed with a smile on her lips. What happened next she had not anticipated. The elf began to cry and sob.

"Valy no good. Valy bad elf. Mistress not happy. Bad Valy. Bad, bad, bad, bad." With a huff and a sneer on his face Malfoy stormed past her and left her alone with the furiously crying elf. The elf was about to hit her head against the hard stone floor when Hermione got to her knees and held the small creature in place.

"Stop that, please. Don´t hurt yourself." Shaking her head wildly the elf wanted to free her head and slam her head against the floor.

"Anything! Is there anything that would make you stop?" Valy stopped her attempt to hurt herself and looked at her with big eyes.

"Would Mistress like tea?" Staring at the elf perplexed Hermione thought about what she had just said. "Would it make you stop crying?", she asked carefully and when the little thing smiled and nodded she agreed to have some tea. Just like everyone had kept telling her the house elf was the happiest when serving someone.

At dinner she saw Malfoy again but he did not seem in the mood to talk with her yet she did not like it to be that way so after she had finished her meal she asked: "What are you doing today, Ma- Draco?" Slowly he lifted his eyes to met hers.

"Actually I wanted to show you around the house but now I will do some paper work in my office.", he stated coolly. His demeanor towards her made her flinch and regret how she had yelled at him. In one swift movement he pushed himself back with his chair and stood up to leave the room. Knowing how fast Malfoy could walk Hermione had to react fast and sprinted after him. Finally having caught up with him at the foot of the stairs she grabbed his hand.

"I´m sorry about earlier. I didn´t mean what I said and yelling at you was wrong.", her tone was close to begging. "I would love to see the house so _please_ don´t be mad at me." An defeated sigh.

"Fine, follow me." Like this they started their tour through the house which was really great. In Malfoy´s office she was struck by the load of paper work and how neatly he had arranged it. There even was a piano in it which seemed to have been neglected but the sound was still perfect since she had tried it. Every room had just the finest and most luxurious furniture.

They entered every room except for one – the dungeon. About the dungeon she only knew which door would lead her down and when she asked if they were not about to go down there he had only frowned and gently pushed her away from it.

At last he was showing her a part of the house that was very different from the rest. There were no paintings on the walls and it seemed quite dusty. Opening a black wooden double door Malfoy revealed a really big room which was flooded with light from the tall windows.

"This is what I actually wanted to show you." It was mostly empty and the furniture was covered with white cloths. Her footsteps echoed from the walls.

"It´s yours." Spinning around to look at him she did not knew if he was serious about what he had said.

"Mine?" An almost-smile played around his lips as he casually leant against the door.

"Yes, I guessed you would not like to stay in my room with me forever. You can decorate it as you wish. It hasn´t been used for quite some time and I didn´t like the design so I thought you could do with some private space. A man will come over later and will help you to furnish it." Her mouth wide agape she stared at him.

"I can choose furniture for this room?" Chuckling he shook his head.

"We do speak the same language, right? Because it seems you do not."

"But it will cost tons of money."

"I told the man your budget limit so it will not cost more than I´m willing to spend on it, so don´t worry."

Exhausted from picking furniture for her rooms Hermione slumped into the bed and enjoyed the softness of the mattress. Since Malfoy was probably busy getting his load of paper work done she drifted off into sleep.

It was already pitch black in the room when she felt cold on her left side. It was not because she was not fully covered by the duvet for she was but because of Malfoy who must be freezing. Slowly moving her hand to his side she soon connected with his ice cold arm which immediately moved away from her.

**/ so next chapter will have some really fun part with a character I love to hate.**

**Any guesses why Malfoy is so cold? **

**Who is the new character for c´next chapter?**

_**Review, please?**_

I will put links of the rings into my profile as soon as I can.


	25. Chapter 25

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

25

She did not address him going to bed all cold the next day at breakfast because her mind was occupied with other thoughts. The reason for that was the main story of the Daily Prophet. It made her look like a money-mad whore. And the fact that even the prize of the ring Malfoy had bought for her was written down made her even madder for she had not even wanted to buy that one because it was so expensive but now it made it look like she had chosen it on purpose to strip him of his money. Malfoy was even called a victim of her greed who was blinded by love. Mrs. Malfoy wanted to send an owl with a complaint to the Daily Prophet but this would only make everything worse.

For the rest of the day Hermione spent the energy she got from being mad at the person who had written that piece of crap on decorating her rooms. Books which she usually treated like a fragile living being were shoved into the giant shelf she had chosen. After hours of beating pillows, putting curtains up and decorating Hermione was finished with the biggest room and tired. Enjoying her well-deserved brake she sat down on the couch and read her favorite book.

Although she had worked hard on her rooms the bed room was in no condition for her to sleep in so when it got dark outside she returned into Malfoy´s room. A long bath which was actually meant to calm her brought back the thoughts about the article in the Daily Prophet and Hermione lay in back gnashing her teeth. Malfoy looked just as worked up as she did and in desperate need for sleep.

"Stop gnashing your teeth.", he groaned to which she replied with a huff.

"It´s the same every night. This has to stop. Just tell me what´s on your mind and I will see what I can do about it." When she kept on gnashing her teeth instead of talking to him he lit his nightstand lamp and leant onto his elbows.

"Put the light off.", she grumbled and squeezed her eyes shut.

"No, I won´t until you have stopped gnashing."

Sticking out her tongue at him she snapped: "See, I have stopped gnashing so put the light off." Malfoy let myself fall back into his pillow and turned his head to face her.

"Is it because Potter and Weasley haven´t sent you any letters yet?" For days she had avoided the thought and her face twisted into a grimace of sadness.

"Well, thanks for bringing it up, Malfoy." Frowning slightly Malfoy dimmed the light so it was no longer that bright and long shadows lay on his face.

"What was it then? You expect me to keep on guessing?", he asked impatiently.

Annoyed by his behavior Hermione turned his head away from him and whispered: "Just put off the light and I´ll be quiet so you can sleep."

"No."

"Stubborn prat. I´ll just do it myself then.", she hissed and wanted to sit up to walk around the bed to shut the light but Malfoy pressed her down with his hand on her shoulder. Sick and tired of complying with what he said she pressed against him just to find herself pinned below him.

"Listen, actually I really do not care one bit about what troubles you _but_ whichever reasons you had to marry me I _owe_ you big times. Being nice to you and trying to make your stay here as comfortable as it can be for you is bloody hard." Throughout it all their eyes were locked and she could see his inner fight in him. Malfoy was really trying hard and was close to his limits. This inner fight was up until he saw the fear surface in her eyes. Sighing he loosened his grip on her shoulders and rubbed them apologetically.

"I´m frightening you, don´t I?" Unable to speak she merely nodded her head. Taking deep breaths Malfoy relaxed and rolled off her.

"Just tell me so this does not get any harder than it already is." Since he had taken the duvet with him by rolling off her he took it and covered her again. It really was a nice gesture although he threw it more than place it onto her and combed through his hair in distress next. For a few second silence reigned in the room.

"It´s because of the article. I don´t like to be presented as something I´m not and if I´m not something it´s greedy." Laughter erupted from him and put his hand behind his head in a relaxed position.

"That´s it? Oh Merlin. And I though you wanted to talk about feelings or something like that. And in the end you would have wanted me to hold you while you cry."

Seeing the glare she shot him he laughed even more. His laugh was quite strange … well actually it was completely ordinary but the fact that Malfoy was truly laughing was unusual. Now that Hermione thought about it she could not remember ever hearing him laugh for real.

"Haha. As if I ever wanted you to hold me." She pulled a face at him. Soon his laughter faded.

"The paper is always full of nonsense and I don´t care too much about what people say about our marriage but if you want me to I can make sure they never write anything again." Crossing her arms over her chest she stared at the ceiling gnashing her teeth.

"No, they will immediately know what you did and worse rumors will come up.", she muttered and sighed. "It´s a wonder that they did not come up with some stupid story like in fourth year about me having one guy after another and breaking Harry´s heart."

Both were thinking about what to do about the news papers spreading lies when Hermione sat up.

"Do you still have your mother´s signet ring?"

Raising one of his pale eyebrows he answered: "Yes but why?"

"I have an idea and need it." Taking the ring out of his hand she walked out of the room to come back some minutes later with a malicious smile on her lips.

"Will you tell me what you just did?"

"You will have to wait.", she purred and lay down to sleep.

A sound awoke her from her sleep and again she found that Malfoy was not lying next to her. Grabbing her dressing gown from a table she exited the room and went down the long hallway. Most animals were sleeping in their paintings and snored slightly. In the pale light of the moon Mrs. Malfoy stood in front of a big window staring outside. The closer Hermione walked the more she understood what the woman was doing. Through every window she could catch a glimpse of Malfoy on his broom.

"Good evening.", Narzissa greeted her. In her white dressing gown and her white skin she looked like a ghost.

"What is he doing outside at this time of the night?", Hermione asked as she stepped closer to look out of the same window.

"It became a habit some years ago. I once asked him about it and he told me that like this he could think and concentrate better." The ghost of a smile played along her lips as she spoke about her son.

"But it´s winter and terribly cold outside. He will catch his dead." Noticing the worry in the girls voice Mrs. Malfoy smiled.

"Nothing can stop him." The woman turned away and walked back to her room. Staying where she stood Hermione kept watching Malfoy on his broom until she decided that he had thought enough for the night. The snow covered terrace felt cold under her bare feet and soon this feeling of small needles being pinched into her feet spread in them.

"Malfoy! MALFOY! Get down!" Up where he was flying he did not seem to hear her or just ignored her shouting.

"DRACO!", yelling his name did the trick and he looked down at her. Dashing downwards until he hovered just above her head he frowned.

"You are not wearing shoes, Granger. Get inside!"

"No.", she said stubbornly. "I won´t go inside without you." From the look he was giving her she must have looked pathetic with her arm hugging herself tightly, the red nose and almost blue lips.

"Fine.", he grounded out and landed beside her. It was hard to walk when you did not feel your feet and so she stumbled more than walked. Since he could no longer watch her poor attempt to walk Malfoy hoisted her into his arms and carried her.

Once inside the house again she began to struggle. "You can let me down now.", she complained but he only pressed her closer to his body and climbed the stairs.

Instead of placing her onto the bed he took her into the bathroom.

"Smartest witch of her age.", he grunted sarcastically while letting warm water into the bathtub.

"Should I have let you catch your death outside?", she snapped.

"I was perfectly fine." Pulling the leather Quidditch gear over his head with his shirt under it he approached her.

"You will have a bath." While Malfoy discarded more of his leather gear her fear grew.

"I´ll be fine by just wrapping myself in the duvet.", she said hesitantly. A dangerous aura around him he stepped right in front of her.

"You will have a bath and I don´t care if you get in there willingly or if I have to rip your clothes off and force you into the bath." Afraid he would rip off her clothes any second she stepped back to find the wall right behind her.

"You wouldn´t do that." With one long stride he was so close she could feel his hot breath on her cheek.

"Don´t challenge me. So will you be a good girl or do you want me to keep this going?", he asked while the waist belt of her dressing gown dangled down from his finger.

Shocked at how he had done so without her noticing she answered fast before he could undress her more: "I´ll be good. I´ll have the bath. Willingly!"

Malfoy kept staring at her and did not move away but leant in and she squeezed her eyes shut. The soft touch upon her cheek made her gasp and when she opened her eyes Malfoy was already at the door and closed it.

Hermione sat in the dining room and watched the watch hands move until the clock struck the time she had waited for. Right on time she heard the high voice of Valy outside of the room. The face of the woman next to her was priceless when she entered the room and saw a person she had not expected to meet there.

"Rita! It´s been a long time since I last had the _pleasure_ to meet you.", Hermione spoke in a voice dripping with sweetness. Stunned as she was Valy had to push her towards a chair.

"Would you like something to drink?" Still speechless she merely shook her head no.

"Well then we should get right to business. I did not like the article about my marriage to Draco and I want you to write another more … positive one." Gulping the woman visibly paled.

"Won´t you need parchment and your Quick-Quotes Quill?" After Skeeter hesitated Hermione put a jam jar onto the table.

"It would be a real inconvenience to me if you could not write an article for me.", she said while poking small holes into the lid. In no time there was parchment on the table and the quill ready to write whatever Hermione wished for.

"I want you to write a correction of the last article with what really happened in the shop and that I´m not greedy as well as a story about how Draco and I love each other." The quill scratched over the parchment and Hermione smiled.

"Did you bring a camera like I wrote you to do?" Pulling the camera out of her bag Skeeter tried to smile like the obedient little writer she was. Together with Valy they left the room to go outside.

"I think some pictures for your story will be good.", she said while handing Valy the jam jar. Seeing the three of them coming outside Malfoy shot down to hover right next to his wife.

"I see you have guest.", he said smoothly and smirked at the frightened Skeeter.

"Oh yes, she is volunteering to write a better story about us and needs to take some pictures of us for that."

Making sure that Skeeter was ready to take a picture of them Malfoy grabbed her by the back of her head, threading his fingers into her hair and pulled her into a kiss. On the tips of her shoes she placed a hand gently onto his cheek and deepened the kiss. After a short time they broke apart.

"I hope you got that.", he said and landed to stand beside Hermione and posed for another picture. Some poses later she decided that those had to be enough and turned towards Draco.

"Do you want to contribute something to the article as well, darling?", Hermione asked sweetly.

"Just write something about how I would have never marry a woman who only wants me for my money and I am not dumb enough to be fooled by some greedy ones.", he said and got onto his broom again.

Going back inside Hermione told Rita some more things she wanted in the article and read the notes she had taken so far before she saw her off. The article was on the front page of the evening edition and captioned _"The true story of true love"_.

Yet this had consequences Hermione could not have foreseen.

**/ I am so imspired that I could finish this really fast. I hope you liked it. Has anyone guessed that it would be Rita Skeeter? I loved to torture her. **

**So what will the consequences be?**

_**Review, please?**_


	26. Chapter 26

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

26

The wonderful feeling of victory after she read the article Skeeter had written Hermione happily finished with her rooms and moved the rest of her stuff from Malfoy´s. It would be the first night she would spend not sleeping with him in the same bed. The biggest room was divided into different parts. On the left there was a table with chairs to have tea on the right she had two walls covered by her book shelves with a comfortable couch in front of it. The second room was a mirror room where she could practice ballet. The last rooms were her bedroom and bath room. Just like Malfoy´s the bath room was mostly white marble.

She was about to look at what she had accomplish when she heard someone clear his throat behind her. Spinning around she found Malfoy leaning in the door.

"Uh, hello.", she said not knowing what else to say after all it was still his house. He pushed himself off the door frame and walked around the room his façade in place. Close to the tea table he came to an halt.

"Here it´s a little empty." Now that he had said it she realized it as well but nothing came into her mind what she could put there so she just shrugged.

"May I?", he asked and pointed at the door that would lead him through the second room into her bedroom.

"Sure." Following him inside she saw him raise a platinum eyebrow while he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Do you love yourself so much that you need a whole room of mirrors?", he asked jokingly and combed his hair back with his fingers.

"No, I don´t but it seems like you do.", she countered which a smirk on her face. They continued to the next room. It was very similar to her Hogwarts room with the red sheets and the desk. The bed was a four-poster. On her was a picture of her with Harry and Ron. Malfoy only took a short look into her bath room before he turned towards her.

"You did a good job. It´s nothing like it was before." His praise made her smile broadly. "Mother is waiting in the dining room for us to eat together." Silently they walked with their arms occasionally brushing against each other. Each time Hermione would look up at Malfoy to see if his face was still emotionless and it was so she did not think he felt a rush of electricity like she did. The food was delicious like always and not much was spoken.

It was when both Malfoys´heads snapped upwards and they listened for something Hermione could not hear that she felt something was different. She had not heard Mrs. Malfoy call a house elf but the next moment her plate disappeared as well as her glass of wine. About to ask what was going on she looked at Malfoy who put a finger over his lips to show her not to talk. Valy popped up next to her.

"Take her into my room and don´t come out until I tell you to.", Malfoy hissed and Valy grabbed her hand and in the blink of an eye she was in Malfoy´s bedroom. Something bad was happening but she could not say what exactly. For which seemed like an eternity to her she just sat there on his bed and waited. It wore her out to wait without knowing what was going on.

When she had decided that she had waited long enough and risk to peak down she heard a woman´s voice from somewhere down the corridor. The next thing she heard was Malfoy´s angry and agitated voice. They were quickly approaching the room.

"Mudblood? Where are you?", the woman sang in a high tone. Bellatrix Lestrange. Spinning around Hermione searched for a place to hide because if this woman found her she would be dead. Under the bed? No. In the bath room? She would find her in no time. In vain of a better place to hide she opened the wardrobe and sat in there. She had just sat down and closed the door silently when she heard the door being thrown open.

"Where is she?", Bellatrix hissed and stomped into the room.

"I already told you that she is not here.", Malfoy commented sternly.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." Another door was pushed open and she could hear things being thrown down and a rustling which had to be the bed sheets. The footsteps came closer and just then Hermione realized how stupid she had been. Valy could have easily brought her out of the room and now she was sitting in the wardrobe without her wand waiting for her doom to come over her. Afraid that the maniac could hear her breathing she covered her mouth with her hands and tried not to move although she could barely fell her feet anymore. The scraping of fingernail against the wood of the wardrobe made her become completely still.

"Bellatrix, you will stop this madness at once. First you come here unannounced then you wreak havoc in every room. I cannot stand back.", Malfoy said in a no-nonsense voice.

"Oh, Dracy-Pooh has grown up, huh?", it was a mixture of sweetness and venom. The steps went away from her hiding spot.

"But remember, Draco, that I still only see you as some insolent _child_." Had Hermione not known that Bellatrix was no parselmouth she would have sworn that she had just then by how she had hissed every word. The situation had turned for the worse. Bellatrix was now not only threatening Hermione´s life but Draco´s as well as she poked the tip of his wand into his throat.

"As the Master of this house I have to ask you to leave, Bellatrix." Malfoy´s voice sounded different from what she was used to – more rough and deathly.

"Right. Now.", he bit out.

"You will regret treating me like this, boy." Angrily Bellatrix walked off and Malfoy sighed in relief. Hermione heard him walk past the wardrobe and towards the bed.

"This should not have happened.", he spoke more to himself. Certain that Bellatrix was gone Hermione slowly opened the door and crawled out. Seeing Malfoy sitting on his bed, his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands she tried her best not to startle him.

"Draco.", she said carefully and flinched at how fast he spun his head towards her and pointed his wand at her. Recognizing her he relaxed and put his wand down.

"Everything is fine now." Although the words left her mouth she did not mean one of them. Somehow she had the feeling that this incident would only be the start of something much worse. Frowning deeply at her words he stood up and locked eyes with her.

"I knew my plan was not flawless but _this_ was _never_ supposed to happen." She wanted to touch his arm and tell him that it will not happen again but he pulled his arm from her reach.

"I´ve been illusionary.", he said and laughed humorlessly. "You stay here, I´ll be back in some minutes. If you need something let Valy fetch it for you.", his tone suggested that there were no buts expected from her and soon he was gone.

Again alone in the big room she paced around and thought about what could have happened, what other consequences the marriage brought with it and much more. Soon she found herself so worried and worked up, her thoughts going in circles that she decided that she had to distract herself. From where she stood at the window she saw Malfoy and his mother walking around the house, casting several spells.

The fact that they put up more barriers and defense spells made her feel scared and safe at the same time. For once it was good to know that after what happened there were more spells to protect her but at the other hand she also knew that the Malfoys thought that something like that could happen again which made the spells necessary. One short moment Malfoy looked up and as soon as their eyes met he looked away and sped up his pace so he was soon out of sight.

It did not take much longer and he was back in his room.

"You will stay with me.", he simply stated and turned his back on her waiting. Without saying a word she followed him to his office. For hours she stayed there watching him work on his paper stacks. On his desk he had a bowl filled with various sweets from which he took some every once in a while. Under other circumstances she would have commented about him having a sweet tooth but at that moment she did not feel like doing so. The fire in his fire place had become small and the candles had burned down when Malfoy awoke her since she had fallen asleep some time earlier.

"You will have to sleep in my room one more night. I need to get someone to fix the damage done in your rooms tomorrow." Nodding she followed him. She could only imagine how chaotic her room looked like after Bellatrix had been in there. No word was exchanged while they got ready for bed. Both lied in the bed wide awake thinking.

"You should not have married me.", Malfoy sighed and from what she could make out in the darkness she saw that again he hid his face behind his hands.

"Well, I can´t change that now, can I?", she replied with little enthusiasm. A long silence spread between them.

"I was scared as well, you know." Never before had Malfoy admitted weakness to her. Slowly she felt hot tears flow down her cheeks.

"Your aunt sure is one scary woman."

"Yes, she really is." His voice held some bitterness that made Hermione flinch. She heard him shift next to her and almost screamed when she felt his warm hand on her belly.

"I will do everything possible to protect you." Hermione was caught between putting her hand above his and putting his away from her but in the end she decided that she would do none of that. Although it made her a little uneasy to have his hand on her belly she still felt safe.

"We should go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a hard day." It did not take long and Hermione drifted off into sleep.

Only once did she awake that night and was glad to find that Malfoy was still there. The absence of his hand had awakened her while he was undoing two buttons of her pajama top so he could place his hand directly on her stomach.

"Wake up.", Malfoy whispered and shook her roughly. "Wha- What´s going on?" From the look on his face something was terribly wrong. "We have to flee. Quick get up and run." In no time she was out of bed and ran for her life. The adrenalin which ran through her body made all her feelings heighten.

**/ dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuun. So how did you like Bellatrix´s first appearance? Excited to find out what will happen in the next chapter? The outcome will definitely surprise you. Muhahahahahahahaha. What Harry and Ron think will have to wait some more chapters.**

**Thanks so far for over 110 reviews, over 80 favs and over 150 alerts. You people are truly wonderful. **

_**Review, please?**_


	27. Chapter 27

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

27

The hallway was suddenly very long and she thought she heard footsteps behind her. Yet when she turned around there was nobody. This was when she realized that she had somehow lost Draco. For a split second the thought about going back shot through her mind and she tripped and fell. She caught the fall with her hands but twisted her wrist by doing so. Horrible pain spread there and she had to use the other hand to push herself up again. It was intense but she could not risk doing that so she bit down on her lip to distract herself from the pulsing pain in her wrist.

Finally she had made it to the stairs when she caught a glimpse of someone in a black hooded cloak. Before the masked man could detect her she spun around and pressed her back against the wall. Her breath came in an uneven rhythm and she was afraid it would betray her whereabouts so she pressed the hand that had supported her wrist against her mouth.

Out of the corner of her eyes she could see him disappear into a room. No footsteps could be heard.

It felt like her heart was about to come out of her throat when she took her chance and made her way down the stairs.

Only three doors and a run across the garden were between her and the safety of the woods. In there she would still be unable to apparate away but the trees would serve as good protection. Easily she left two doors behind her. A false feeling of security crept up in her which was quickly swapped with pure fear.

The handle of the door was pushed down and was about to open with nowhere for her to hide in sight. Face to face with the Death Eater her body refused to move and she must have looked like a deer caught in headlights. Even more shocking than his appearance was his action. Not making a move towards her or even caring to point his wand at her he held the door open and watched her.

"Run!", the voice was deep and not human – grotesque. For the blink of the eye she hesitated before she realized that this was probably her only chance to escape. It was sick. The Death Eater wanted to see her run for her life and hunt her down but there was still the chance that she could get away.

As soon as she stepped outside she was engulfed in the cold wind that hit against her hot skin. Her bare feet made crunching sounds on the snow covered ground. She had to ignore the pain which now shot through her entire body because otherwise her chance was even smaller than before.

The way to the woods was long and she could already hear his steps behind her. This was when she saw the flowerpot. There was no time to think so she just grabbed it and spun around. Her aiming had never been good but luck was with her and she hit him against the head and he tumbled to the ground. Shoulders heaving up and down, breathing laboriously – that was how she stood there and looked at the outcome of her action. He did not move … for some seconds but then he was back on his feet in no time. His hand moved to his forehead and then to his mask. Blood was on his fingertips.

"Not bad. I hadn´t seen that coming.", his voice made her tremble. Throwing the flower pot against his head had not helped one bit but had only gotten him mad and so Hermione ran faster than before.

She was already very close to the woods, actually just one foot away, when she was pushed in the back. Loosing balance she hit face first against a tree and slid down on the side. It felt like her face was on fire and falling into the snow did not soothe the pain.

Someone grabbed her by the ankle and she kicked and kicked until he hissed and let go. Crawling away she sought anything she could use as a weapon. A stick on the ground would have to do but then there was the weight of his body on hers and her arm not long enough. She struggled but he would not budge one bit.

Grabbing her by her hurt wrist he turned her around so they were face to face again. Easily he could trap both her hands above her head with one of his. His other hand closed around her neck and tightened while blood was dripping down onto her face from his forehead. Kicking and struggling did not help her neither did she have the strength to free her hands.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she could no longer breathe properly. She was close to fainting when a voice came to her ear. Not grasping the words but only hearing the sound she did not know why the masked man had stopped to choke her. She took a deep breath and it felt like tiny needles in her throat.

"You are going too far! Look at her!", it was a woman´s voice.

Somehow there was Narzissa kneeing next to her suddenly. The Death Eater stood up and took some steps back while Mrs. Malfoy gently put an arm under her neck and helped her to sit up.

"Take the mask off, your little project is over. Can´t you see it´s scaring her?"

It was not a Death Eater that had chased her and almost killed her but Draco in his father´s clothes and his eyes were cold and hard as he looked down at her.

"You are lucky. A real Death Eater would have killed you." Without the slightest hint of compassion or guilt he walked back to the manor. His words hit her like a punch to the stomach and she knew that he was right.

The soft rub on her back made all tears break loose. Hermione flung her arms around Mrs. Malfoy and cried against the woman´s shoulder.

"Ssshh. It´s okay. You are safe.", Narzissa whispered into her hair and patted her back.

"Let´s go inside." Since her legs were weak she needed support to get back into the house. She led her into her own room and brought her to the couch so she could sit down.

"I will send Valy to get some ointment. Do you need anything more? Tea? Breakfast?" Attempting to smile she half smirked and shook her head.

"No, thanks. I think I just want to be alone." The woman bent down and kissed on the forehead.

"I understand."

It was much later that day when the woman returned to her rooms to find her playing the piano.

First she had not noticed that the once empty spot was filled but after lying on the couch for countless hours she had seen it. The piano fitted perfectly in the spot and must have left an empty spot in Malfoy´s office. Her mother used to play her songs when she was little singing along her tunes and this was how Hermione got enchanted by the instrument and later learned to play it herself – not as expertly as her mother.

"That´s a very nice song. I have never heard it before."

Without looking up Hermione answered in a monotone voice: "It´s a muggle song." Sitting down next to her on the piano bench Mrs. Malfoy kept listening. It was hard to concentrate on the notes and when she got one wrong again she stopped playing.

"Why did he do it?", she asked and looked with weary eyes at the other woman.

"He did it to keep you safe." At that Hermione frowned. Before she continued to explain her son´s behavior she sighed.

"After Bellatrix was here and almost found you Draco was incredibly worried. Something like this might happen any time and not even the additional spells can keep them away for long. Draco knows this place inside out so it is not a problem for him to get out of the house if he needs to … but it is for you. He wanted to see if you would be ready for a situation like this and you even forgot your wand. I cannot say that he is relieved now."

Slowly Hermione began to push random keys while thinking about what she had just heard.

"I would be dead now." She stood up and locked eyes with the woman. "But he still has a strange way to show he cares."

It was already late evening when somebody knocked on the door to her rooms. Hermione was not too surprised to find Malfoy standing there.

"I want to show you something.", he said and like he did quite often he turned around and expected her to follow him. They walked up the stairs and when they passed the painting of the dog she stopped. With a raised eyebrow he turned around.

"I won´t sleep in your room after what you did today. Not even if it would make you less worried." He let his shoulders sag at that.

"I didn´t think you would." This ended their conversation and they continued. They really were heading towards Malfoy´s room. He showed her secret passages in the house and the shortest ways out of it as well as good hiding spots.

Although he sure was still worried he did not _test_ her again and she was grateful for it.

The remaining days of their holiday flew by with Hermione mainly staying in her room alone reading books and experimenting with some spells and stuff. During her stay she had avoided to think about her friends and their reaction to her marriage but the dreadful day they had to return came and this time they would take the train back since as head students they had to patrol the train.

**/ I bet nobody had expected this turn of events but I still hope you liked it. yeah, Draco really has a strange way to show that he cares but I think that it is in character that he did so.**

_**Review, please?**_

**p.s. I also uploaded a new chapter of Masquerade**


	28. Chapter 28

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

28

Standing at the station Hermione knew how the burning of a witch must have felt like. On the on hand everyone looked at her as if she had grown an enormous horn at night or something like a third arm and on the other hand she felt the burning of their stares. So it was fire and loathing at once. Standing right next to Malfoy who had his façade in place she wondered how he could be so calm about it when she felt like squirming. Even his warm hand holding hers could not help her. She doubted that it was a gesture to soothe her but to show how in _love_ they were.

Crowded as it was not even the bright hair of the Weasleys could be seen and Hermione did not know if she should be glad about it or not because sooner or later she would have to face her friends.

Sadly the fact that Blaise, Pansy and Astoria approached them was not better. Blaise greeted her with a kiss on the forehead and Malfoy with a handshake.

"Congratulations.", he said lamely and shot her a quick apologetic look before Pansy shoved him out of her way.

"Actually I should smack you across the face, Draco, for not inviting me to your wedding.", she said sweetly.

"Nobody was invited.", Draco murmured and rolled his eyes.

"But I got you something anyways." Curious Malfoy raised his platinum eyebrow and looked down at the wrapped box in her hand. He was about to take it when she slapped his hand and drew the box closer to her body.

"It´s not for you. You already have everything. It´s horrible to choose gifts for you." Holding out the box to Hermione she smiled so sweetly that it seemed very fake and forced. Since she hesitated to take it Pansy held it even closer to her hands.

"Take it, it won´t bite." A little embarrassed she laughed and took the box and looked back at Pansy who urged her to unwrap it with a nod of her head. Slowly she tore the purple and silver wrapping away and opened the cover. It was an embroidered pink hair band.

"Uh, thank you. It´s really beautiful." Hermione was stunned that Pansy had gotten something this beautiful for her. Maybe she was not as bad as Hermione had always thought.

"Try it on." Putting it into her hair she freed her face of loose tresses. Only her fringe was still covering her forehead. "I knew it. You are an autumn type."

Not knowing what Pansy was talking about she just nodded and smiled. Pansy stepped back and it seemed that it was Astoria´s turn to congratulate them but her pose told another story. The girl glared at her and Hermione was hundred per cent sure that if it had been just her and the girl on the station she would have attacked or at least insulted her. It was pure loathing and only the push she got from Blaise could make her step closer to them. Her lips pressed into a thin line she took one more step so that she stood in front of her enemy and plastered the most forced smile Hermione had ever seen upon her lips.

When she put her arms around her neck to embrace her she almost flinched expecting a punch or worse but nothing happened. Well, if you could call whispering

"I want to scratch your eyes out" into her ear nothing. Shocked at the audacity of the girl Hermione stared at her in bewilderment and felt paralyzed. The forced smile had changed into a malicious smirk when she turned to hug Malfoy as well. Being considerably smaller than Malfoy she got onto her tiptoes to get one arm quite around his shoulder. Malfoy´s next move she had not anticipated for she gasped slightly when he pulled her up so that their heads were at the same level. Hermione did not hear what he told her but from the reaction afterwards she knew that he must have said something. In no time Astoria pushed away from him and stormed away only looking back once to glare at Malfoy.

Although the behavior of the girl was so clearly not normal nobody seemed to care much about it. Soon the train would depart so they got inside and separated because the heads had a compartment of their own.

Together they sat in silence. Only when the train stopped and once during the ride did they have to check the other compartments. A snicker drew her attention to her husband.

"What is it?" Although they had spent most of the holidays together it was still quite tense between them from time to time. Not much had changed except maybe their will to be nicer. He stopped snickering immediately and looked out of the window.

"Nothing." At that she sighed and massaged her temples. The tension on the station and the stares had gotten to her and the result was a heavy headache.

"So nothing was funny, huh?" After spending so much time near the other they already knew when an argument was coming up and how to avoid it so Malfoy shifted in his seat so he could face her more comfortably.

"It´s about the head band. Pansy sometimes really is incredible in her subtle ways of giving presents. Although it sure is nice and quite expensive for accessory it´s meant as an insult to your style." Having already assumed something like this she snorted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Somehow it does not surprise me but I don´t care what she thinks of my style just because I do not feel like investing time in my choice of clothes every day." Afterwards she shrugged and leant her head against the window to watch the scenery fly by.

Until Malfoy looked at his watch they had not talked again.

"It´s time I guess." He meant the patrol and suddenly there formed a knot in Hermione´s stomach. The long dreaded meeting with her friends was to come. After all they had to stumble upon each other in the train where there was nowhere to hide.

They easily made their way through the train until they came to a halt in front of the door to the last compartment where they knew to find Potter and his gang. Instead of opening the door like every other one before Malfoy had turned around and blocked the way. His stare was intense as he towered over her.

"You can go back.", he said in his deep and cold voice. Knowing that this was once more his strange way of showing that he cared she frowned.

"I don´t want to." Her hand already on the handle she waited for him to move aside which he did not. Seconds passed before he closed his hand around her wrist.

"If I were you I would prefer a more private place for this.", he murmured without meeting her eyes. After he had said it he let go of her wrist. Thinking about his words she hesitated and finally pulled away. In the blink of an eye he was gone and the door closed.

Hermione did not go back like he had told her to do but stayed. Not knowing why she did it she shifted from one foot to the other. Impatience took over and she glanced at her watch.

How long had it taken them to control the other compartments?

No idea.

Maybe she should see if everything go smoothly for a bad feeling nagged at her nerves. Just because Malfoy tried to be civil around her did not mean that he would around her friends. After all they had never talked about this. The uncertainty about what was happening or had already happened behind the door made her nervous. Again she looked at the watch and set a deadline for when Malfoy better showed up or she had to go search for him.

Behind her she could hear people buy sweets and chat about their holidays – just like she had done so many times before _it_. Watching the hand move its rounds she grew more and more agitated.

So close to the edge she almost screamed when she heard a crashing sound from behind the door along some shouting.

_Ron_.

Without giving it one more thought she opened the door and stepped into the compartment her feet would not have carried her into a few minutes earlier. Malfoy leant against a window while Ron stood in the door to their cabin. His shoulders heaved up and down while he raised his balled fist to strike again.

"_No_!", she shouted and ran up to them. Both heads of the boys´ spun around and it seemed like the scene had stopped in motion. Worried about his rash action Hermione turned from Ron to Malfoy whose lip was bleeding. Although Ron had stopped his eyes narrowed as he watched her nearing them and then he punched the blonde in the face once more. Hissing at the force of the punch Malfoy´s head collided with the window behind him and he tumbled over slightly. Just in time Hermione made her way to them and caught her husband by the shoulders.

"Draco …", she whispered while she helped him stand straight again. His nose looked quite crooked and blood was gushing out of it.

"_Touching_.", Ron snorted behind her in the most sarcastic voice she had ever heard from him.

Spinning around she glared at him and snapped: "Why have you done _that_, Ronald?"

For some seconds he only observed her and Malfoy before his face twisted in disgust and he ground out: "Get out of my sight."

With one step back he was back in their cabin and reached to close the door but Hermione pushed it back.

"I´m not done here.", she hissed and put her foot in the doorway so that he would not close it. In front of her Ron straightened so that he was towering over her and for the first time in her life she feared him. There was so much anger in his eyes that she would not doubt him to hit her as well.

"Well, too bad because I´m done with _you_." He was about to push her out but she pushed his hands away with all the strength she could muster.

"I´m not leaving until you tell me why you did that." Crossing her arms over her chest she meant it as a sign of her will.

"You want to know why? _Fine_! He provoked me!"

"Oh, so you wanted to show him that you are better than him by punching him? Really _mature_." At that he shrugged.

"There you have your reason so _leave_." She shook her head. His behavior was really unbelievable and she did not recognize him anymore. Huffing she turned to Malfoy.

"We should get your nose fixed." After he nodded she looked back into the cabin once more and the way her friends looked at her hurt much more than any punch could have. Malfoy walked in front of her and they had already made their way to the compartment door when someone grabbed her by the wrist.

"Hermione.", the softness of Harry´s voice made her shiver under his touch.

"Harry." There was no disgust, anger or other negative feeling in his eyes.

"There is a reason for you to be with him, right?" Tears threatened to fall but she blinked them back.

"Yes, and I will explain it to you but not now and here." Finally there was her chance to fix her friendship. She was really glad to have someone like Harry.

"Just one more thing. Is it love?", the last words were so quiet that she had hardly understood them. Shaking her head no she pulled his hand off her wrist and went back to her compartment.

Malfoy was not there and she welcomed the solitude.

**/ so here is finally a reaction from Ron and Harry. Hope you liked it. Next chapter Draco will make Hermione an offer ... dun duun duuuuun**

_**Review, please?**_


	29. Chapter 29

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

29

Although she could feel tears welling up they would not fall and the knot in her stomach tightened up. Only hours after what had happened did Draco return with a healed nose. Some dried blood was the reminder of the punches. For the rest of the ride they sat there in silence and when the train came to a halt Malfoy sent her to their carriage to wait for him. She did not complain and was glad that he was considerate of her.

After some time Blaise joined her in the carriage and told her that Malfoy wanted them to go ahead. Instead of going with her into the Great Hall with the rest of the students Blaise lead her towards the Head´s common room and told her he would be back with their dinner soon. He would return soon with a house elf helping him carry up the plates to find her sitting on the couch her face pressed into the fur of her cat on her lap. A few tears had made their way past her eyes and they still looked red and puffy but he did not say anything, just sat there and ate silently beside her. Afterwards they merely sat there and stared into the fire while they waited for Malfoy to come back.

The fire was already very low and small when the portrait door finally swung open and Blaise stood up to leave. Before he left he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

"Potter will forgive you, I´m sure.", he whispered softly into her ear and disappeared into the dark corridor.

Taking in her still slightly red eyes Malfoy made his way to his favorite armchair and sat down. For seconds he just sat there and watched her unmoving body. Soon she decided she did not need his permission to go to sleep and got up since there seemed to be nothing he wanted to talk with her about.

Just when she had made one step he called her and she let herself back down into the cushioned couch. His stormy grey eyes locked with hers and she could not make anything from the expression on his face. It was empty and still had some touch of thought.

"This won´t work."

Shock made her eyes widen. Was he really implying what she thought he was? It could not be. First she agreed to marrying him and acting as his wife so he would be safe while she lost the trust of her friends and possibly everything and then he wanted to end it. She was just about to sob when he said something she would have never seen coming.

"Potter and Weasel won´t buy any lie you´ll feed them. Those two aren´t _that_ dumb. You may tell them that you did it to help me but not the concrete reason. Understood?" Taking in what he had just said she merely stared at him before she slowly nodded her head.

With a long sigh he sunk into the armchair and snapped his fingers. Out of his room came a floating bottle and a glass. Reddish brown liquid poured into his glass and he pivoted it. A nip later he looked back at her.

"One more thi-"

"What is that?", she interrupted his pointing at his glass. A smirk formed on his lips as he took a big gulp.

"Ah.", he made as he enjoyed the burning sensation of his drink.

"Firewhiskey still is the best."

"We aren´t allowed to bring alcoholic drinks into school." Snickering erupted from him and he shook his head in mock disbelief.

"And there I was thinking about to make you an offer that would make things so much easier for you and you turn all goody-goody on me again." He watched her over the edge of his glass while the meaning of his words sunk in.

"Well, I´ll go to bed now. Night." Without looking at her he grabbed his glass and drowned the rest and walked off.

Offer. This single word had made her feel hope again and she needed it so much she rushed to stopped him. Grabbing the back of his shirt she pulled.

"Stop! I don´t care! Drink whatever you want, how much you want! I won´t say anything again, I swear! But please tell me about the offer.", she spluttered while she clutched the fabric so hard her knuckles turned white.

"Ts, ts, ts. Granger, you should be more careful about your words. Drinking how much I _want_. I don´t think you would want that." In no time his face was so close to hers that their noses almost touched and she could smell his breath. It was a mixture of smoke and something that made her nose burn.

"I´m pretty sure you remember the last time I drank as much as I _wanted_." Seeing the shock in her eyes he stood tall again with a satisfied grin on his lips.

"Well, I´ll be good and keep my promise not to overdo it but I don´t want you go around complaining about me consuming _alcoholic drinks_ how you have called it." Still scared from him coming up so closely she took a step back and slightly nodded her head to show him that she would not complain.

"So, what about the offer?", she said so quietly that she doubted he had heard her but the grunt she had earned for her question told her otherwise.

There he stood pinching the bridge of his nose and looked down at her with his silver eyes. It seemed she had asked the question just in time before he changed his mind about it.

"You can see whoever you want. I know you don´t like or even love me. Just keep it a secret and don´t tell me about it." This was more than she could have ever hoped for and she visibly swallowed.

"Really?", she breathed which he answered with a curt nod.

"And your arm?"

Sneering down at her he spat: "Take my offer or leave it."

Already knowing that she would take it he turned and shut his door right into her face. The gush of wind from the door seemed to blow a huge burden off her shoulders.

Still she laid awake most of the night thinking about how to explain the situation to her friends. After all she already knew that at least Ron had not calmed down about it and must feel horribly betrayed. So the next morning she went down for breakfast but sat down far away from her friends watching them. She knew that they would have a long break between transfiguration and potions so that would be a perfect chance for her to meet up with them. Deciding that she slipped Harry a note during transfiguration.

_Harry,_

_Please meet me in the Room of Requirements. Bring Ron along. I will explain everything._

_Hermione_

Anxious she sat on a dusty old armchair waiting for her friends to show up. What if Harry had changed his mind about wanting an explanation and now hated her? The minutes ticked by on the grand clock and with each tick her hands became sweatier, her throat drier. She was just about to leave when the door finally opened revealing Harry dragging Ron behind him.

There they stood all three staring.

A smile of gladness was on her face and she sat down motioning for them to take place on the two equally dusty armchairs across from hers. Without a moment of hesitation Harry walked towards her and slumped into the chair while Ron remained standing by the door staring at his friend in disbelief. Although Hermione had anticipated him to behave like that she felt tears well up in her eyes and her _please_ was chocked. When that did not have the power to make him sit with them Harry frowned at him.

"Give her a chance." Although he grunted he came to stand behind the armchair clearly keeping some space between him and Hermione.

It hurt, never had he been like this towards her not even during their first year when he did not like her because she was a know-it-all.

"So, explain. I don´t want to be late for potions because of you.", he said roughly. The sound of his voice made her flinch. Maybe her idea of writing her explanation had not been that bad. At least it would have saved her this unpleasant experience. Yet, nothing would be better than hearing the truth from herself.

"I did it to help Draco." Ron´s left eye twitched involuntarily and Harry just kept waiting for her to go on.

"First he forced me into all this and I was so ashamed of myself that I could not muster the strength to tell you. Then when I was freed I found out why he had done it and agreed to help him …", she took a deep breath and her voice faltered. "… by marrying him."

Harry crossed his arms over his chest and sighed.

"What are you helping him with?" Sure, Hermione had thought about coming up with a lie but after lying so much to them and seeing the result of it she decided against it.

"I can´t tell you." A growl came from Ron and she was almost sure he would storm out and never let het try to explain everything again but instead he just stood there and rammed his fingers into the cushioned back on the armchair.

"But he´s been treating me well, Draco really is trying very hard. I even have my own rooms in the mansion.", she said lamely while closely watching Ron´s face turn deep red with anger.

"I know I should not have kept it a secret and lied about it. I´m sorry." Those two could not have reacted more differently. Harry clearly had forgiven her and was trying to understand her while Ron glared daggers at her with his rage-filled eyes.

She was just about to add something when Ron ran off slamming the door shut behind him. The welled up tears made their way down her cheeks and she started to sob uncontrollably.

"I´ll talk to him.", Harry whispered and kissed her forehead before leaving as well.

In potions Blaise pulled her towards his table and forced her to sit with him and be his partner. Her red eyes did not go unnoticed by him. Swiftly he drew a handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to her. During the lesson Hermione made no effort to answer any question if she was not directly asked which she was not.

Since Snape could not take any house points from her for answering agitated whispering of Harry and Ron was like a feast for him.

5 points for having a conversation, 10 points for not being able to answer his questions, 5 more for not being able to answer the next question as well, 15 points for almost blowing up their cauldron and a lot more for this and that.

For the rest of the day she did not register much. Even the fact that Ginny had joined her for dinner could not lighten up her mood and so she went to bed very early.

When there was a knock on the portrait door she could not hear it and Draco opened it since he was still sitting there and read the newspaper.

"Hello Potter."

"Malfoy." Their greeting was cold as usual.

"Granger is in her room."

"That´s not her name anymore.", Harry pressed through gritted teeth.

At this Malfoy only raised one eyebrow and gestured for him to get in. Without caring much about Potter´s presence Draco sat down again and continued his reading. Much to his surprise Potter did not go to Hermione´s room but sat down on the couch.

After a minute of silence he asked: "I suppose you have not come here to enjoy the comfortable couch, have you Potter?"

"No."

**/ finally chapter 29. I know I have not uploaded much lately since I had been working but now I have more time again and will make sure to upload more quickly. So I hope you liked the golden trio part. **  
><strong>since there a whiskys which smell like smoke I thought that Draco´s breath could smell of it afterwards.<strong>

**next chapter some about what harry and ron have done during their holidays.**

_**Review, please?**_

**F.Y.I.: I put a oneshot called "The Seed" onto , it´s inspired by all those ffs I read where Draco confesses that he had already had a crush on Hermione in Hogwarts.**


	30. Chapter 30

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

30

With a sigh Draco put down the newspaper and locked eyes with Potter.

"Then make it quick, I want to get some sleep for once." Before Harry could make up his mind about how to say what he wanted he stared at the blonde.

"Why did Hermione help you?" Snorting Draco leant back into his chair.

"I don´t know why she did it. Pity probably. Compassion."

"At the beginning you forced her, right?" A platinum eyebrow raised he regarded the black haired boy.

"Am I right in believing that you want to find out if she has told you the truth by asking me those questions?" After a moment of considering what Malfoy had said Harry shrugged.

"Well, yeah." Rolling his eyes Draco sighed.

"Fine, let´s speed this up since I don´t feel like playing this _"friendly"_ game for long. So just tell me what she told you and I will tell you whether it´s true or not. And no I did not particularly force her in the beginning but I have to admit that my methods had not been fair at all.", he ended the sentence with a smirk at his own deviousness.

Surely it was driving Potter insane not to know what Draco had done but he was too much of a fool to ask about _that_. Pulling himself back together Harry cleared his throat.

"She could only help you by marrying you?"

"True."

"You are trying to be friendly towards her."

"Yes, although she does nothing to make it easier for me. Damn woman."

"She has her own room at the manor."

"Not room – rooms. Except for a kitchen she has everything a house would have.", an idea came into his mind. "Wouldn´t have thought she wants to share the bed with me much longer."

"What?" The puzzled expression on Potter´s face sure was priceless.

"Renovation takes its time, Potter."

"Don´t you have a guest room?"

"We have a whole bunch of guest rooms but it just didn´t seem right."

"Why not?", the urge to hit Draco square in the face was obvious.

"She is no guest. She´s my _wife_ now and sleeping in the same bed is what married people do." The sight of Potter struggling with himself whether to ask if they had sex or not sure was funny and Draco was chuckling inside.

"Um … so … erm … did you…", Harry was at a loss for words and merely looked at him helplessly.

"I think I know what you want to ask, Potter. _But_ that ´s way too private. And. None. Of. Your. Business."

His mouth falling wide agape he suffered the snickering of the other boy. The tint of red crawled onto his cheeks. It was anger mixed with embarrassment. Feeling energy rush through his body Harry stood up his hands balled into fists.

"Oi, calm down, Potter. I did _not_ have _sex_ with your precious little know-it-all." Satisfied with the look on the boy-who-lived´s face Draco smiled showing his white teeth in a raptor like fashion. For some moments Harry fidgeted clearly uncertain as to how he should continue.

"What did she help you with?" He seemed to have saved this question for the later part of his interrogation because of its importance but Draco would not do him the pleasure.

"I´m glad she did not tell you. Quite the reliable wife I have. Next question.", Draco waved his hand to urge Potter on.

"Um … that was my last question." Mildly surprised Draco raised one of his eyebrows before he smirked bemusedly.

"Interesting.", was all he uttered before he got up from his armchair and took the few steps towards the door with the lion door knob to loudly bang against the wood with his fist.

"You have a visitor!", he shouted.

"I don´t want to see Blaise. Tell him to go away!"

"It´s not Blaise!" Silence followed after his statement and then very slowly the door opened. Taking a step aside Draco revealed Potter standing at the couch.

"Harry." In no time Hermione rushed out slightly pushing Draco away to embrace her friend.

"Nothing went as I had planned it. There was so much more I wanted to tell you … but … but.", her words came out choked and interrupted by sobs. Now that there was only Harry all the words she had so accurately prepared wanted to come out but all at once and crashing with her sadness. Her back being rubbed in soothing circular movements Hermione relaxed into the warm arms of Harry.

"Ssssh. It´s okay. I´m here now and you have all the time you want to tell me everything." Shaking she pulled back and nodded her head to show that she would try her best.

"But how about you first show me your room?" Glad for the patience of her friend she took his hand and led him towards her door. That night she lay awake very long but unlike all the nights before she was happy. Harry had not interrupted her and never was prejudiced. They would just both lie on her bed and talk about the things that had happened so far: Hermione´s holidays, the engagement, Ron getting into a relationship with Lavender … .

Not sure as of when they both drifted off into sleep the sun shone into Hermione´s room when they awoke.

"Harry can I ask you something?", Hermione said quietly changing into her uniform while the boy faced the wall.

"Sure."

"Has Ron told you why he is _this_ angry at me?" He placed his fingers onto his temples and began to massage.

"You should have heard him, Mione. Ron can paint quite the picture of what Malfoy might be doing with you at this and that moment. Especially when it was just me and him he would speak out a lot of his thoughts and if I had believed in them I would be just as mad but to be honest some things were just very _extreme_ and _unreal_."

"Extreme and unreal? What did he think was happening at the manor?", she asked rather curiously.

Of course Harry would not tell her about all the sexual and violent scenes which had been described by the redheaded boy, as well as that those scenes did not only happen in the manor but at many different places. The worst thing about those fantasies was that in all Hermione was quite willing to do … _things_. Reminded of all the things Ron said Harry shook his head to get them out.

"You don´t want to know." Sending her a look that would hopefully stop her from asking again Harry observed her in her uniform. Her eyes were no longer puffy and red but normal and the pink hair band made sure you could see her face better.

"Well, let´s go down to have breakfast.", she said almost cheerful.

"Ah, one more thing." About to open the door she turned her head slightly so she could see her friend.

"Yes?"

"I think Ron doesn´t like it when you call Malfoy by his given name."

Keeping what Harry had said in mind and hoping that he could keep his promise that Ron will talk to her soon Hermione was concentrating on her school work yet always keeping an eye out for the hot-headed boy. Because he did not want to see nor talk to her she and her more forgiving friends had to meet up in the Room of Requirement.

About to meet there with Harry Hermione paced in front of the wall until the door appeared out of thin air. The room looked always the same: Some candles and dusty old couches and armchairs that did neither match in color, style or size. The smell was warm but moldy.

"Wow, you are quite early, Harry.", she said giggling knowing that her friend was not the most punctual person. Leaning slightly forward on the armchair with the high back there was not the black haired boy she had expected but the third member of the Golden Trio.

"Ron.", she said breathlessly. A crooked smile on his lips he got up so they stood face to face.

"Hey." _Hey_ … just like when he was still talking to her, when he still considered her his friend. He had forgiven her. A tear of joy and relief made its way down her cheek. Overcome with her emotions she ran towards him to throw her arms around him. For such a long time she had not heard his voice, smelled him and touched him. It was like her body reacted on its own finally having the chance to make up for the lack of it.

"Don´t" With a single word he had blown away her happiness and made her stop. Confused she looked at him for an answer but he turned his eyes down.

"What Harry told me is true, isn´t it?" She could not blame him for thinking she was still lying and yet it was like a stab into her heart.

"Everything I told him is the truth. I´m done lying. Hasn´t turned out very well for me, has it?" Although she had meant it to be serious Ron snorted and grinned. This was followed by an awkward silence.

"So, um. Are we friends again?", she asked while fidgeting uncomfortably at the strange atmosphere.

"No." Completely taken aback she snapped her head up to stare at him and the second she did so his head shot forward. It was a hasty kiss with him barely hitting her mouth but more the edge of her lips. A second later they stared at each other before Ron did it again this time properly and longer so she could kiss him back. This certainly was the best outcome she could have thought of.

**/30 chapters yaaaaay  
><strong>

**yeah so I hope I can cut the Hermione/Ron part short and get on with the Dramione part.**

**hope you liked it**

_**Review, please?**_


	31. Chapter 31

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

31

Hermione had known it ever since she had found out about Lavender and Ron dating that this strange feeling she sometimes got when he was around was love. The horrible pain she felt whenever she had seen the two together being all lovey-dovey was the best proof. And quite many times had she thought that maybe he felt the same for her but their kiss made everything clear. Still after all that had happened because of her lies she was confused by his sudden action.

"Wh-what?" In no time she found herself in a tight embrace being pressed against his chest.

"I was blind, Mione. So blind. It´s always been _you_ but when I realized that it was too late. Of all people it had to be Malfoy. The thought alone of him kissing you, touching you killed me. My relationship with Lavender was so shallow and you were with the guy I loathed the most. Oh, Mione." Ron let out a shuddering sigh and then began to sob into her shoulder. Moving her hands around his waist and onto his back she pressed into him.

"We can be together, you know?" Although she did not see it Hermione felt that he was nodding.

"Harry told me about it."

"We have to keep it a secret though." At that he growled but she could feel he nodded nonetheless. Afterwards he told her that he had broken up with Lavender right before the holidays and they enjoyed each other´s presence some more.

During the next weeks they would meet up in the Room of Requirement as often as they could. Her lies and his bad treatment were long forgiven and forgotten. The more she saw of Ron the less she saw of Draco or Blaise both keeping their distance from her. With everything being like that it almost felt like nothing had happened. The time she could spend with Ron was the best of her life. He was sweet and already confessed his love to her. Whenever he would whisper those three words into her ear her face would ablaze, feeling hot and becoming a dark shade of red.

It was one night when they were sitting in the candle-lit room together on a comfortable red couch when she felt a sting in her finger which increased to a burning pain spreading to her hand.

"Ah", she hissed and broke the kiss. Seeing how she protectively wrapped her hand around her other Ron was immediately concerned.

"What´s wrong?"

"Uh, I just don´t feel well. Better go to bed early today." Although she did not like lying to her boyfriend she did not want to know how he would react or rather overreact if she told him what was really going on: the pain got worse by the second and she was glad she could still talk. Giving him a quick good-bye-kiss she got up and hurried to the common room hoping that she would find Malfoy there.

Although she was not lucky enough to find Malfoy and end his making out session with some slut the pain stopped spreading. Still the damage was done and there was no way she could come up with a good excuse for Madam Pomfrey so she had to try fixing it with her wand which she had to wave in her left hand. Not used to performing magic with her left hand she could not do the movements properly and therefore only the pain stopped while it still hurt like hell when she touched her flesh.

How in the world did Malfoy deal with this? And what had he done that it had spread over her whole hand?

It did not take long until a slightly guilty looking Draco appeared breathlessly in the portrait hole. Instantly she was on her feet and staring at him while he turned towards his room, stomped his way to his room and threw the door shut behind him. A couple of minutes later he returned with a small jar in his hand. Without a word he came to a halt in front of her and unscrewed the lid.

"Your hand.", he simply stated while he dipped into the ointment with two fingers. Wanting him to see what he had done she willingly held out her hand yet he did not seem to be surprised and merely applied a thin layer onto it.

"Wouldn´t have thought that you could restrain you for so long.", she snorted sarcastically and glared at him.

"Think whatever you want.", re said in a neutral voice.

"Well, one of your sluts sure got impatient."

"If that´s what you want to believe."

"No, I actually think you fell onto some girl.", she snapped and went into her room. Although Malfoy had a reputation of shagging and snogging every girl that would be fooled by his looks and charm Hermione had not seen this coming. It seemed like he no longer felt that he owed her anything for helping him so she should probably get stocked up on ointment as well.

The next morning she was just about to leave for breakfast when she found Blaise in front of the portrait just about to knock.

"Morning.", she greeted him and wanted to step outside the hole when he lightly pushed her back inside.

"Let´s wait for Draco. It´s been quite some time since you two last went to breakfast together, people are getting suspicious." He was right about that so they walked back to sit on the couch. To her surprise he pulled her to sit in his lap which caused her to gasp. Had he not smiled at her the way he did she would have felt uncomfortable about him putting his arm around her.

"Something wrong? You´ve been looking rather gloomy." Sighing she leant into his arm.

"Malfoy seems to have kissed someone, maybe more. I don´t know but it sure hurt like hell." At that he frowned and stroked her shoulder with his thumb.

"Hm, it´s either that or attacking you, Hermione." Again he was right and she could not say that she wanted any of it and was scared of both.

"Don´t worry. I know the ultimate Malfoy-cockblock." _Cockblock_. She had never heard of that so she raised her eyebrow. Just when he was about to tell her the door of Malfoy´s room was opened and he stood there and stared at them. Slowly Blaise moved his head towards her ear and tickled her with a strand of her own hair.

"If Malfoy ever tries to force himself upon you just tell him that you are a virgin and he´ll let go of you." What he said made her blush since she was not used to talk about such things. She was so focused on not seeming too embarrassed that she did not notice the hand that gently caressed her leg or the smirk Blaise sent Draco.

The sight of Blaise and Hermione together and that close made Draco freeze as he remembered what had happened the night before.

_Draco and Blaise sat in a secluded corner of the castle where rarely anyone came by and had a glass of firewhisky. They were just talking about how McGonagall needed a good shag to loosen up some bit when Draco began to claw at his right arm and hiss in pain. It was not the first time that Blaise had witnessed it but this time it was a lot more intense and long. _

_When Draco quickly pulled away from his shoulder because the pain had spread that far Blaise had jumped and frowned down on him. _

_"You can´t let her do this any longer, Draco!", he barked. _

_"Shut up.", Draco growled through gritted teeth. _

_"What do you want? Wait to see how much _worse_ it can get? At this rate you´ll probably _die _when they decided that they are finally ready to have sex!" Consumed with his pain Draco had not even heard everything what his friend had said and was in no condition to talk anymore. His groans became so loud that there was no use in talking to him anymore. _

_"Damn idiot.", Blaise snapped and got down beside his friend grabbing him behind the neck. _

_Forcefully he held his face his placed as he pressed his lips against his. Draco did not even have the strength to push Blaise of him or free his head from his grip so he merely tried to scream against his lips which turned out to be a whimper. Being the asshole he was Blaise used that to plunge his tongue into his mouth. The pain no longer spreading in his arm Draco could finally find the strength to push Blaise far enough away from him that they no longer kissed. An angry look on his face Blaise stood up and disgustedly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Just so you know, I will no longer watch this and if I have to I will do that again or worse. Although Hermione would be nice for a shag. I bet she would not notice until it´s too late and she sure would not be strong enough to fight back for long." That said he turned and walked away._

Blaise´s words still in mind Draco really needed to tell Granger that their deal was off and there would be no more snogging or else with Weasley. Although she had kept her promise not to tell him Draco was no fool and had eyes in his head to see the obvious. The three of them walked towards the Great Hall Draco´s eyes always trained on Blaise´s hand upon Granger´s hip.

"So you waited for me so that nobody would get suspicious of our marriage but it sure does not help being glued to Zabini.", he stated cooly and pulled her towards him so that it was now his hand on her hips.

**/ don´t worry there will not be Ron/Hermione stuff for long. Included the flashback so that you did not get the wrong impression from Draco. I think next chapter will be the break up and I promise that Ron will be a right dick about it.**

_**Review, please?**_

**Thanks to you this story now has over 150 reviews and 100 favs as well as almost 200 alerts. You are just great. Really motivated me to update this quickly.**


	32. Chapter 32

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

32

When they arrived in the Great Hall Hermione wanted to separate from the two Slytherins but the hand on her hip made sure she followed them to the Slytherin table. Gazing back over her shoulder she could see the puzzled look on Ron´s face. At the table she felt the awkward atmosphere because even as the wife of Malfoy she was still a Gryffindor and therefore in the snake´s den. Pansy talked about some fashion nonsense and how she would have to get Hermione some more hair bands so she would not have to see her with the same every day. Blaise and Draco talked about Quidditch while Crabbe and Goyle glared daggers at her. All in all it was uncomfortable and she would flee as soon as either Draco or Blaise had finished their meal. When the topics got more boring by the minute Hermione turned slightly to be able to glance at her house table but Draco caught her with a finger under her chin to place a short kiss on her lips.

"_Darling_, you have barely touched your breakfast." With that he was forcing her head back to her plate and she obediently ate her food for he would clearly not leave her any option. After forcing two more toasts which were smeared with butter by Malfoy himself into herself she decided that she had done enough and definitely would eat one more bite.

"I´m going to the library." It was true and it always worked.

"Sure, have fun.", Draco said chuckling. Yet before she could get up he pulled her closer to him.

"I have something important to tell you tonight, don´t be late." Only then did he let her go and she hurried outside the hall and down the corridors as fast as she could without seeming to run. The lessons were like always and uneventful except for the end of her day which she did not share with Malfoy. Ron had given her a note while he had passed her.

_Meet me in the Room of Requirement in 20 minutes._

_Love you,_

_Ron_

Somehow the note made her heart beat faster, her hands get sweaty and her body feel warmer. It was short and sweet. Curiously she stood in front of a clock urging the minute hand to move faster and when the time was finally over she ran towards the wall where a door would soon reveal a laid table. The smell of a warm meal hung in the air and Ron wore some less casual clothes than he normally did. It even seemed like had tried to do his hair.

"Hey." A big smile was plastered to his lips.

"Oh, Ron this is beautiful. You should have told me to change into some better clothes.", she gasped as she saw that there was even a flower bouquet on the table. With a few steps he was in front of her and kissed her.

"You don´t have to dress up. The way you are now is how I love you the most. You are breath-taking, Hermione." His words made her shudder and feel light as a feather. Viktor Krum had told her quite similar things but never had he made her feel like Ron. Taking her hand he guided her to her chair and pulled it back so she could sit on it.

"I carried it up by myself since I know you would not like me troubling the house elves with it." His thoughtfulness made her feel special. Her favorite dish, the thing with the house elves, the setting – it was all perfect.

Afterwards they sat down to chat some bit on a couch which ended with Ron lying on top of her kissing her passionately. Her blouse and skirt lay discarded on the floor together with his trousers and shirt. As his hand slowly wandered down to her belly she started to panic. Not because she did not want it with him but because this was not how she had imagined it – on a narrow dusty old couch.

"Wait.", she almost shrieked and grabbed his hand. Unlike the last time she had stopped him he did not look confused but just placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Don´t you want me?", he breathed as he trailed kisses down her nose.

"I do … it´s just…" At a loss of words she tried to convey it with her eyes.

"It´s not like you want it to be." There was no trace of anger in his voice. The weight on her was gone as well as his warmth when he stood up to stand next to the couch.

"Close your eyes." Although she hesitated to follow his words she still did close her eyes and drew in a sharp breath as she was lifted off the couch and into his arms. She could hear a door click and when she was lowered onto something it felt soft. A bed. A four-poster with deep red curtains at that surrounded by dozens of floating candles. It was even better than Hermione could have imagined.

About to tell him just how wonderful it was he cut her off by kissing her most heatedly. Everywhere he touched grew warm and tingly. In one move he brought them both into a sitting position in which she straddled him.

"I want you so badly.", he half hummed half growled. His need she could feel being pressed into her thigh. With both hands he reached behind her back to unclasp her bra. Immediately one of her breasts was cupped in his hand while he sucked furiously at the other.

"Ouch, not so hard." At that he let go of her breasts and kissed her apologetically. His finger tucking at her knickers she felt slightly nervous.

"Wait a second. I´ll be right back." With that she got off him and wandered out of the room to get her wand. Back in the room with the bed she wanted to perform the contraception charm on Ron when he attacked her and she found herself under him.

"That can wait.", he said and pressed her wand hand into the mattress while pulling of his boxers with the other one. Too nervous and embarrassed Hermione did not dare to look at him below his waist. Apparently noticing that she was shy he kissed her while he tucked her knickers down.

"You better relax now." Feeling him pressing against her entrance she stiffened.

"Let me do the contraceptive charm first." The way he frowned down at her sure was not what she had expected and he still held her hand locked under his.

"Um, Ron?", she asked, uncertainty slowly getting the better of her.

"No, we don´t need one."

"What?" Her voice was high and cutting.

"We´ll do it without."

"Do you want to knock me up?", she asked incredulously.

"It would serve Malfoy right. A Malfoy with bright orange hair. Everybody would know.", he said in a cold tone with a smirk that was so much more like Malfoy´s than his.

"This isn´t funny, Ronald." He only chuckled and tightened his hold on her hand.

"Imagine his face." Making _love_. That was what they had intended to do but it had turned out to be Ron´s personal revenge and she was just there so he could use her. All that time she had thought that he loved her but he did not. Tears welled up behind her eyes.

"Get off me.", she said rather quietly but he would not move.

"Get. Off. Me! NOW!" He still chuckled as he got into a kneeling position.

"Fine, fine, work the charm."

_Petrificus totalus_.

Definitely not the charm he had meant but he should thank her for not hexing him into tomorrow.

When she put her clothes back one another realization struck her like lightning. The ring. What had this incident caused to Malfoy? Worry and fear ruled over her body as she ran towards their common room.

"Draco!", she cried out as she stood in the portrait hole to regain her breath.

No response.

"Nonononononono." Faster than ever she was in front of his door and banged against it.

Still no response.

"Draco … where are you?" If he was not here he could be everywhere in the castle and it would take forever to find him. Hermione was just about to loose it and become a crying mess when she heard a whimper behind her.

There he was, lying on the couch his eyes barely open but looking at her. Although the sight was horrible it took a load off her mind. She ran the few steps towards the couch and kneeled down beside him.

"I´m so sorry. So sorry." He seemed like he wanted to say something but only a rattling sound escaped his throat.

"Hold on, I will heal you." Her wand hand was shaking like a leave in a storm so she had to use her other hand to steady it. That was the first time she looked at the wound clearly and although he had pulled his sleeve up there had still to be slightly of it underneath his shirt.

Starting at his fingers and working up his arm would be stupid so she had to see just how damaged he was. With trembling fingers she unbuttoned his shirt and drew in a sharp breath as what she had done was revealed to her. The sight was so terrible and disgusting that she had to look away. It had spread up to part of his neck and covered his entire right breast. Since the skin was gone his flesh shone red and smelled horrible.

This though was not a moment for her to be weak and run away to hide but she had to face it because otherwise he might die.

That she was sure about: if she had had sex with Ron it would have spread onto his left breast and he would have died. It was already worse enough as it was.

Supporting her wand hand with her other one she began to work on his wound and after hissing and groaning for minutes he finally passed out. Hermione did not know how long it had took her to complete the healing but she was so tired that she could only breath _I will never do it again_ before she fell asleep, her head resting on him.

In the morning she was woken by Draco´s voice.

"Granger, you are damn heavy." What she did not know was that he had been awake for quite some time already and had not wanted to wake her so he had just laid there and occasionally stroked her hair.

"Huh?", she said still half asleep as she lifted her head off him. Only slowly did she regain her memory of what had happened and why she hurt everywhere from sleeping in this position. It was foggy but after some thinking it cleared. Last night she would have almost killed Draco by having sex with Ron. Ron who she had thought she was loved by and who turned out to be only using her.

"Let´s go down to have some breakfast." His words kept her from thinking further and breaking out in tears but she would not go down to see Ron or even talk to him.

"Go without me, I´m not hungry." Without any question he left without her while she went into her room.

It was Saturday and she did not leave her room the whole day as well as the next.

**/ so I hope all the Ron-haters liked this chapter. Actually this would have been up yesterday but then my boyfriend wanted to spend some quality time with me although I really wanted the whole Ron/Hermione thing to be over. So had anyone suspected it to end like this? Soon Draco and Hermione will be back at the manor for easter break (do they even have holidays on easter in englang?)**

_**Review, please?**_


	33. Chapter 33

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

33

Sunday evening Malfoy would start to knock on her door but she did not feel like answering or even getting up from her bed. The few times she had been out of her bed these past days were only to sneak into the bathroom. Every time Malfoy came around to knock on her door it became more forceful.

"Granger, get out! You have not eaten anything for two days!" After minutes of non-stop knocking and yelling at her she finally was fed up with it and had to face the fact that he would not stop until she responded.

"Go away! Leave me alone!", she shouted in a scratchy voice. This was because she had cried and sobbed until her throat had gone raw.

"I think your alone time has been long enough. Seriously, Potter and She-Weasel look at me like I have done something to you." Harry and Ginny, he did not mention Ron so he was not worrying about her. Yet another stabbing pain in her chest. In the end she really had meant nothing to him it seemed. When she finally gave in and opened the door she found a frowning Malfoy outside with his fist in the air to yet again strike against her door. Judging from the look on his face she looked like shit, righteous horrible but he did not say a word about it.

"There´s food for you. Should be cold by now." Indeed there stood a tray with several plates and she wondered if Malfoy had ordered the house elves to bring so much or if they had done so on their own.

"I´m not hungry." He glowered down at her. Somehow he scared her and she took a step back into her room. At her movement he glared at her.

"Stay here.", he barked and roughly pulled her out again. The force made her stumble forward and she fell, not fast enough to stop it.

"Ouch." Instead of helping her up he merely walked to his armchair and snorted.

"Not even strong enough to walk properly but sure you are not hungry." A humorless laughter. She really was in the right mood to go back to her room and lock her back in but her stomach ached for something to eat so she reluctantly sat down on the couch. Although the food was cold she enjoyed every bite of it. Soon she had devoured all of it, eating like a hungry wolf. Only the soup was left but she had already tasted it and it did not taste very good when cold.

"Seriously, Granger, one would think as a witch you would know how to heat food." Saying that he flicked his wand and the soup was warm when she put a spoon of it into her mouth. Just the temperature that she could eat it without burning her tongue. She had just finished when he said something that made her flinch.

"You cannot see your lover any longer. I´m taking back my offer and I guess you understand why." While speaking to her his eyes never left his left hand which he clenched and unclenched as if to test it.

"It´s over anyways." Slowly he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"He-"

"Don´t tell me. I don´t want to hear it, you have friends for that kind of talk, Granger." Too bad her friends were the sister and best friend of the guy who had broken her heart.

The weeks went by with her keeping as far away from Ron as she could and that also meant as far away from Ginny and Harry as well. Hermione did not know how she ended up spending so much time with Pansy Parkinson but the girl would supply her with a lot of girly things like hair clasps or mascara. Although they now did a lot of things together she still knew that Pansy thought she was ugly but she covered that with overly sweet friendliness. Unlike her other friends – well they sort of were friends now – Pansy chose _Herms_ as a nickname.

They were just walking around the lake when Pansy blurted out something.

"So, were you still a virgin on your wedding night?" Although Hermione knew about her lack of tact she was still so shocked that she stopped in her tracks staring at her.

"_Pansy_.", she hissed and went crimson red. Never before had she asked her something this intimate.

"What? I swear this time it isn´t for a bet." That girl never failed to surprise her even more.

"You bet on me? About what?"

"Your first kiss. Blaise said it was Krum and I said it was Potter. Damn bastard already knew that he was right about Krum."

"I _never_ kissed Harry. Ugh. He´s my best friend." The thought of kissing Harry was quite repulsive.

"Well, this time I´m just curious. I won´t tell anyone." Having known Pansy as the school´s gossip queen Hermione shook her head. Although the girl no longer called her mean names and acted civil towards her she still would not tell her things of this importance … well, everybody already suspected that she still had been, but those also believed that she was somehow in love with her former enemy.

Since she no longer wanted to talk about it Hermione began walking again. It took her some steps to notice that Pansy was the one to stop walking this time.

For the first time she saw an expression on the girl´s face she would not have thought she was capable of: sadness. Anger, hatred and gloominess. Those she had seen but not once before sadness. As a pureblood Hermione thought she was not supposed to show those feelings.

The next moment Pansy sat down on the ground and glowered at her.

"I can keep secrets, you know? There are a ton of things I keep to myself … for my friends." This was another first time: Pansy had openly acknowledged her as a friend. Sighing Hermione made her way back to the girl and sat down next to her.

"I still am.", she said just loud enough for Pansy to hear it.

"You not wanting to trust me doesn´t make us enemies again." A little puzzled at her reply Hermione frowned before she understood what she meant.

"No, that´s the answer to your question." The next thing that surprised Hermione about the girl was that she was not surprised at the least. No wide eyes, no risen eyebrows, no sign of surprise at all. Hermione became angry because she felt tricked by Pansy.

"You already knew.", her voice was cold and filled with spite.

"No, I didn´t", she answered defensively.

"Then how come you are not surprised one bit, huh? Not one tiny bit!" She had been so stupid to open up towards the girl who had made her school life hell, who had taunted her whenever she could. Seriously, how much more foolish could she have been. Thank Merlin she had never bestowed something important upon Pansy.

"It´s because I know Draco for so long that it didn´t surprise me. It´s just not what he likes." This must have been the cherry on top of the ice cream bowl called humiliation.

"So it´s about my looks again? Just so you know, my friends like me for what I _am_ not what I look like. You´re really despicable." About to send her the death glare of her life time Hermione was taken aback when she felt the girl´s hand collide with her cheek. The sound of the slap echoed around them.

"Stupid cow! Don´t jump to conclusions! Draco doesn´t like having sex with virgins and I know that because _I_ did that to him!" The abrupt outburst made Hermione hold her breath. The words reached her but their meaning did not.

"I corrupted him, you understand that? I cried so hard and screamed that he was so scared off by it that he would never touch me willingly again afterwards. Never. Never before had Draco ever been this gentle and considerate with me and I ruined it because I could not take the pain. Damn, I even thought that it was the first time he _loved_ me for _real_." Pure and utter shock with a pinch of shame. Hermione really had jumped to conclusions and had not meant for it to turn out like this.

"I´m sorry.", she did not only say it but truly meant it.

"Ah, shut it, Herms. It´s not like you could have known." A snort followed soon afterwards. "The know-it-all did _not_ know something for once, bloody miracle." Although Hermione should have felt offended she merely laughed along with Pansy. That was the first time she did not mind someone calling her a know-it-all. And she would have never believed that the girl could make such a witty joke.

"I guess it´s no wonder you don´t trust me. I´ve been a right bitch to you." About to tell her that she had long forgotten and forgiven her Hermione hesitated. What she wanted to tell her would not be the truth. She did still remember and she had not forgiven her everything by far.

"Yeah, you _were_.", was what she said lamely instead. There was no way to make the things Pansy had said and done to her less cruel.

"And by the way: if Draco did not find you desirable he would not have married you, believe me." Desirable … there was certainly some truth about it but not in the way Pansy had meant it. The thing he desired was safety and that he gained by marrying her.

"Well, Blaise will probably have the honor."

"Of what?"

"Deflowering you, silly. At least that´s how Draco did not have to deal with virgins after me." All blood drained out of Hermione´s face. Pansy had made it sound like an unwritten rule. Would Draco go that far? No, he could not since it would mean his death and as a Slytherin he liked to preserve his life. The proof of that was wrapped around her right ring finger.

"No." It was cold and curt. The conversation was over for Hermione so she got to her feet and started walking towards the castle.

Closing the distance between them Pansy huffed: "You know, it´s not that bad. Sex is not _always_ about love."

Stopping right in her track and turning towards the girl Hermione was about to snap something at Pansy when they heard commotion.

Pansy shrieked. After the second it took her to turn towards the noise Hermione gasped. Close to Hagrid´s hut there were Harry and Draco punching and kicking each other. Before she had even taken in the scene Pansy was already rushing towards the two guys.

"Stop it! Stop fighting!", she yelled and ran after the Slytherin girl. Since they made no move to stop Hermione pulled out her wand and casted a spell on them so they floated in enough distance from each other.

"What are you doing?" Both of them could not care less about her question and kept on shouting insults at each other. Not thinking of a nicer option Hermione soon found herself slapping Draco before she turned towards her best friend to do the same with him. Silence, both were too dumbfounded to think of more insults they could throw at each other.

"So, I won´t ask this again. What is going on here?", she said tapping her foot on the ground with her arms crossed.

"Malfoy is a moody selfish _git_!"

"Yeah, Potter? And you are a _buffoon_ who thinks he knows _oh so much_ about me."

"Well, I don´t go around making _offers_ and take them back just a short time later, _ferret_!"

**/ sorry for the late update, hope you like the chapter. next one will have some confrontation with Ron **

**recommendation: read "Two Boxes of Memories" by solsbane ( you can find the story in my favorites)**

_**Review, please?**_


	34. Chapter 34

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

34

From one second to the next Hermione turned white. They had an argument about the offer Draco had made her and which she now gladly turned down. Of course it must have seemed different to Harry who she had only told about the taking back of the offer and not everything around it like how Draco had almost died or what Ron had done to her. She had been about to tell him the whole lot but then Ron had come around the corner and she had fled. Afterwards there had not been another opportunity for her to talk to Harry again since Ron was always beside him.

And now that he needed to hear the truth they were out in the open and he was yelling like a lunatic with Pansy standing next to her who believed that she and Draco really were in love.

_Catastrophe._

Soon people would notice the fight and Harry might say something about how the whole marriage was fake. Although Harry was normally a calm person Hermione did not doubt that in the state he was he might say stupid things. Heated as their argument already was their secret might slip off his lips any second.

"Let me down, I´m done with boy-wonder.", Draco huffed at her and she did as he told her. Separating those two had to be the best that could be done at this moment.

Still, instead of walking right back into the castle Draco took some steps towards Harry and hissed: "The offer is no longer needed anyways, _Potter_." Harry´s eyes widened in anger and before he could shout whatever was lying on his tongue Hermione put a silencing charm on him so he was only floating there with his mouth wide agape. Strutting away from them he raised his voice one more time without caring to turn around.

"It´s always good to hear both sides of the story for _weasels_ tend to be lying creatures." This one sentence stopped Harry in his tossing around and he frowned.

He would ask her about what happened and she could not bring herself to think or even talk about it. What had happened that night was already painful enough as it was but reliving it would only make it worse. The pain again was fresh and so real.

Had Pansy not ripped her out of her thoughts by shaking her by the shoulders Hermione would still be standing there with a silent Harry floating over the ground. Wanting it all to be over she let him down, not once looking him directly into the eyes. Of course avoiding his gaze would not save her from all the questions he must have.

The moment she lifted the silencing spell of him he huffed angrily and sort of growled at Pansy: "You better leave us alone."

"What? No!", Pansy snapped indignantly.

"It´s okay. Go.", Hermione said only so loud she could be sure the girl heard her.

As soon as she was inside the castle, it seemed like the wind rose just to make it match her mood. Strands of her hair whipped into her face and she hugged her body to protect herself both from the cold and Harry´s gaze and questions. It seemed he expected her to just start telling him things but she would do no such thing and so he began barking at her the things Ron had told him.

"So it´s true then. Malfoy manipulates you. Has he forbidden you to talk with us? Does he threaten you with something?"

Lies, all horrible lies.

But of course the picture of the cruel Malfoy was something Ron would paint perfectly. Instead of saying anything she merely shook her head no.

"What is it then, huh? Tell me!" With the last words he poked his forefinger into her shoulder as if that would encourage her to talk. The dim pain in her shoulder only added to the one she felt in her heart and so she pushed his hand away. Snorting he stepped back from her.

"So, it´s _that_. We are no longer good enough for you. I would have never thought that money could change a person in such ways." Feeling insulted she found the strength to glare at him.

"Sure, if you have all that Malfoy money Ron will no longer be good enough. Seriously, Hermione, I would have never thought that you were capable of treating your _friends_ this badly. You are –"

"SHUT UP!" She had not meant to do it but before she had even realized what she had done her palm had already connected with Harry´s cheek. His glasses slightly out of place he stared at her disbelievingly.

"I´m sorry.", Hermione breathed and reached out for him but he stepped back and glared. With each step she took towards him he backed further away.

"Harry, I´m so sorry." Her voice was pleading and desperate but still his face was as hard as stone.

"It´s over.", was all he had to say before he stomped inside the castle and out of her sight.

Hermione was glued to the spot. Not only had she lost Ron but with him the rest of her friends. Her decision to help Malfoy had come at a way higher cost than she had thought it would. She was alone and bound to the one person she had hated for years. It wall seemed so unreal: Malfoy trying to be nice while her friends avoided and despised her.

The feeling of her tears welling up behind her eyes became more prominent and her feet carried herself to the Heads common room. When she entered the room her face was already wet from her tears and the long stifled sob escaped her throat.

She did not know when Malfoy had entered the common room but at the sight of him standing in front of her with crossed arms rage flared up in the pitch of her stomach. Everything that had gone so horribly wrong for her was his fault.

"I hate you.", she hissed while she tried to dry her cheeks with the palms of her hand.

"That´s a strong word, Granger." Like always he was so cold. Yet he was the only one she had left and there was no way he would ever embrace or comfort her. The only thing she could expect of him was to play nice and keep his nasty remarks to himself. What a prospect. Focusing all her anger on him she began hitting against his chest and arms with her fists.

"It´s your fault. Everything is ruined." With every hit her words became louder.

"I should have _never_ pitied you!" He no longer let her hit him but held her wrists in a tight grip.

"All my friends _hate_ me now! I´m stuck with you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!" Over and over again she spit the words at him and struggled against his grip. She did not only want him to hear it but to feel it – know her pain. With time her throat hurt and her strength faded together with her anger.

What was left was the feeling of loneliness and sadness. All the screaming and hitting had not helped the fact that she had lost her friends. Again her face was wet from tears. She felt all strength flow out of her body and stumbled into Malfoy who let go of her wrists.

Although she did not want to she put her arms around him and held the back of his shirt tight in her hands. Letting her do that was the least he could do after all she had suffered. The warmth of a human body, she needed it. No rejection. Malfoy did not put his arms around her to embrace her but merely stood there.

If someone had entered the room at that moment it would have been a one of a kind sight: Hermione crying into Draco Malfoy´s chest.

After some time she fully sunk into him and her legs gave in as exhaustion took over her body. It was only then that Malfoy moved his arms to stop her from sinking down onto the floor.

It was minutes later that Malfoy encountered Potter with Weaseley and his sister. The three were so busy chatting that they only noticed him when he cleared his throat. The startled girl snapped her head so fast into his direction that there was a loud noise coming from her neck and she winced.

"What do you want, _Malfoy_?", Ron hissed.

So it would be like this. Usually they started a bit more civil – if you could call it that – but Draco did not mind the hothead in the least.

"There must have been a misunderstanding.", was all he said and did only look at Potter and the She-Weasel. At that Potter snorted, something that was not very much like him.

"I don´t think so. Your dear _Mrs. Malfoy_ no longer thinks we are good enough for her. Thanks, Malfoy, for opening our eyes." The sentence dripped with sarcasm and venom. Even with all his taunts he had never gotten Potter in a state like that.

"Interesting. So she _said_ you were below her?"

Potter was about to answer that after some hesitating when Weasley just yelled: "She thinks she is better than us! Now she had some _pureblood_ friends, so she doesn´t need us anymore!"

He had always had a minimum patience with the Weasley boy but today it was especially small. Too fast for the other three to react he had the boy bay the collar tightly so that there was just enough room for him to breath.

"Listen now, Weaseley, and listen carefully. I can completely understand if she no longer wants to be friends with you for I have never understood why she would want to be around a _stupid_ and _incapable_ guy like you. You do not have the same interests and your lack of common sense makes you abuse her for her intellect." With that said he pushed him away and rubbed his hand on his trousers as if to get filth off him.

Enraged by what Draco had said Ron wanted to throw himself on him but with a step to the side Draco avoided the attack and Weasley lay there on the floor.

"As for you two.", Draco said and put his attention back to the Weasley girl and Potter. "I can understand why she would want you around and I doubt that she said any of those things you tell me she did."

"Well, you were not there when she said so.", the Weasley girl said and crossed her arms over her chest protectively. Contrary to what she had expected him to react his predator grin appeared on his face.

"And neither were _you_ as far as I can remember, Weasley." This one sentence made her swallow her firm belief of what her brother and Potter had told her down.

Doubt was planted into her mind and it would not be easy to shake off again. When she had heard them talk about their former friend so badly she had first tried to protect her for what they said did not sound like her at all but after hearing just too much of it all she had come to give up her protection and gave in to them.

This time Ron tried to lung at his leg but seeing him move out of the corners of his eyes Draco stepped back.

Annoyed by the conversation and giving up on talking sense to them he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I see. It´s useless." Then he did something that was very unlike him but somehow it did not feel wrong: he nodded his head as a sign that he would leave now. Making a long step over Ron who still lay on the floor he walked off.

Yet he had only come around a couple of corners when out of nowhere he heard steps behind him and labored breathing.

"Malfoy, wait.", the person gasped behind him. A look over his shoulder confirmed what he thought – the Weasley girl had somehow caught up with him. Instead of fully turning around and waiting for her he merely slowed down his pace. Soon she walked next to him, of course only with an adequate distance between them.

"What did you mean?" Her question sure was vague and so he did not even think of answering it while he raised his eyebrow at her.

"You said that you did not think that Hermione said anything about being too good for us or ending the friendship."

"I meant what I said." There was no sense behind her question so he did not want to waste his breath on a longer answer. The girl did not seem pleased by what he had said and frowned deeply.

"Then why did she avoid us?" Since he tried to keep out of her private business as best as he could he had no idea so he merely shrugged. Once more she did not seem pleased and snorted, yet she did not ask him more questions.

Before long they reached the portrait that lead into the Head common room. Draco did not unlock the door at once but turned around to face the redhead.

"You should ask her about those things.", he said in his cool neutral voice and put his hand into spout´s mouth. With a soft click the portrait swung open and they entered the common room.

There was no sign of Granger and only the ruffled blanket on the couch indicated that she had lain there. Without another glance around the room the Weasley girl marched up towards Granger´s room and began to knock.

No answer.

Still there could be heard sobbing if you stood close enough to the door.

"Hermione? It´s me, Ginny." Even after that there was only the sound of sobbing.

No footsteps, no answer.

"I won´t go away until I talked to you.", she shouted a little louder and with a hint of sternness. He waited about five minutes before he went into his room. His business was finished and the Weasley girl was not one to give up very easily.

When he came out to read in the common room he was surprised to see the girl sitting on the couch staring hard at the door. From the looks of it his business was not fully done and he sighed loudly.

"Follow me." He had to speed things up a bit for he knew that Granger could lock herself up in the room for days and he would not have that again. So he took the Weasley girl into his room and although she would have some questions about his special door and the narrow hallway behind it he led her there. After all there was not only a door into the bathroom but also one into the Head girl´s room.

To avoid any more questions for now he opened the door and pushed her inside before quickly closing it behind her. Through his one way glass pane he could see how she sat down on the bed and hugged Granger. Although his work was now truly done for he could do no more than that he sat down on the stairs in the secret passage and listened in just to make sure that it would end up well.

That was why he overheard something that he neither liked nor had wanted to know. But once you heard something so upsetting you could not forget it so easily.

Two days later it was time for them to leave for the Easter holidays. And like Christmas they would use the floo network to get to Malfoy Manor. Hermione was waiting for Malfoy to come for his luggage was already standing right beside the fireplace while he was still missing.

Half an hour later he entered through the portrait hole his hair a little out of place and a frown on his face.

"I had to take care of something. Let´s go."

**/sweet Merlin, I´m so so sorry for the long wait but I could not bring myself to write the whole Draco/HarryGinnyRon part. But I think the next chapter will come faster than this one. The plot twist is very near. In the next chapter you will get to know what Draco had to take care of.**

_**Review, please?**_


	35. Chapter 35

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

35

The day after their arrival Valy came into Hermione´s room with a letter for her. Strangely inside the envelope were two envelopes. On the first Ginny had written _good news_ and on the second _bad news_. The fact that she had written that soon after she had seen her had made Hermione very happy but now that she was presented with those letters she had mixed feelings.

The choice was a hard one to make. She could open the bad one first but then she could not be sure that the good news is so good that they will overweight the bad ones. Maybe she could not even appreciate the good news anymore if the bad news were in fact worst news. Still opening the good news first did not ensure that the bad news won´t make her feel negative in the end.

After some further consideration she decided on opening the good one first.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Again I want to apologize for believing my good for nothing brother so easily. I cannot forgive this malice of him. Breaking your heart in such a disgusting manner and then trying to make you an outcast by telling those cruel lies. You really deserve better. _

_I do not know if it will make you feel better or if you will approve of what has happened but it seems like someone avenged you (I think it might have been Malfoy since Harry swore he had not done it although he would have liked to; might have been some Gryffindor though for Harry was really loud when he yelled at Ron). _

_It happened right before we left for the train. Ron (that lying troll) had noticed that he must have forgotten his broom (actually it looked like he thought it vanished; he was pretty sure he had taken it with him) and went back into the castle. When he did not return soon we decided to go without him, for Harry and I were still very mad at him for lying to us and did not see why we should wait for that clumsy idiot. We had already been sitting in the train for a long time and had told Hagrid that Ron was still missing. The other student began to become impatient and complained about the delay so Hagrid went to look for Ron. It did not take long and he came back with an unconscious Ron slumped over his shoulder. _

_He had bruises over his body. No wonder about that, for Hagrid had found him near the Whomping Willow. His broom … well what is left of it can be called sawdust – that´s not the good part! Ron told us that right before he passed out he saw someone (he could not say who) bowing over him. Both on his forehead and on his tongue – YES! His frigging TONGUE!- there is the word LIAR (yes, I used capital letters on purpose and ,oh Merlin, you should see it!). _

_That is not the best part yet. From time to time he slaps himself. First it seemed really arbitrary but there is a kind of trigger. Mostly it is when you are mentioned but not every time so it´s not your name but certainly something about you. It serves him right and Fred and George have a great time talking about you nonstop while laughing their asses off because his cheek is really red and he whines like a little girl. Mum does not think it is so funny but after hearing what he did to you she no longer tried to keep the twins from teasing him. Harry also feels terrible for believing Ron so easily although he thought it had been quite strange that you changed so much._

Strangely the rest of the page was empty expect for Ginny´s signature on the bottom of the page. It did not take Hermione long to figure out that her friend had put a spell on that passage of her letter to protect it from the prying eyes of her nosy brothers. Still it was hard to figure out the word that would help her unlock the hidden text. In the end it was the word _tongue_.

_Oh, Hermione, I am so sorry that I only tell you about this important matter now but with all that has happened I barely had time to tell you. I am falling for Harry. It has been like this for some time now and finally I think he begins to recognize me not only as his best friend´s sister but also as a girl. _

_Horrible, I say this now but I have to say that I think this is only because he had nobody to talk about certain things he does not want to talk to about with me brother. When he was all down because of you being married to Malfoy and my brother was throwing a tantrum he had come to me and I had told him that everything will be alright and then you revealed that it was all fake. That night he smiled at me in the sweetest way and said "You were right. Thanks, Ginny." and kissed me on the cheek. It was only for a brief second but I tell you it felt like heaven. _

_Well, nothing more had happened since then but now that we both avoid my stupid brother I get to spend more time with him._

_Love,_

_Ginny_

Ginny and Harry. Hermione had to admit that she had thought they would be perfect for each other for a long time and never understood why Ginny had dated all those other guys. This confession put a smile on Hermione´s lips. There was nobody who deigned Harry and Ginny this happiness the most so she wished that Harry would finally notice what a wonderful Ginny is.

She held the second letter in her hands and stared down at the words written onto it. Somehow she did not want to spoil her current happiness while on the other hand she sure was curious about what kind of bad things had happened.

About to break the seal Hermione saw Valy shift her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably.

"Is something the matter, Valy?" Flinching as if she was caught in the act Valy looked at her with her big round eyes. Slowly she nodded her head and let her ears hand into her face.

"What is it then?", Hermione asked softly as not to make her feel more awkward.

"Valy worried about Master Draco. Winces every time he move much. Valy soooo worried but Valy house elf – only house elf." So Draco was in some kind of pain which was strange because he seemed normal to her and she had just seen him some hours ago at breakfast.

"When did this start?", she asked a little worried herself now.

"Day of arrival. But Master Draco only do alone so." She really did not understand that he always had to pretend that he was oh so tough. Sighing Hermione put the second letter aside and stood up.

"I will see what´s wrong with him so you won´t have to worry about it any longer, Valy." A from ear to ear smile spread on the elf´s lips.

A look at the clock told her that Draco would be in his office and doing paper work so she made her way through the long corridors of Malfoy Manor.

Instead of knocking before she entered the room she pressed the door handle down as carefully as she could as not to make any noise. Thanks to the carpet laid out in the room the sound of her footsteps were muffled. For some time she stood behind Malfoy´s large chair and watched him work. Every time he put a stack of papers away and reached for another he hissed, at least once a minute he rolled his shoulders and groaned.

Having seen enough Hermione decided that she would make her presence clear.

"That sure is a big load of work." Startled by her voice he snapped around. Surprise was written over his face but his former groans and hisses were absent.

"It certainly is, Granger. If it were not for the work the Malfoy would not be as big as it is." She had to give it to him but he sure was a master of pretending that nothing was wrong.

Putting a hand on his shoulder she squeezed hard. Still, he would not let it on that he was in great pain.

"Draco, I´ve been in the room for long enough to know that you are in pain." His brow furrowed and he brushed her hand off his shoulder swiftly to roll it in some effort to make it hurt less.

"I would not have taken you for the sneaking type.", he ground out.

"_I´m not_. Valy was very worried about you. Don´t even think about punishing her for she only wants the best for _Master Draco_. She is my elf anyways." Glowering back down at his work he snorted.

"How low I must have sunken that a _house elf_ pities _me_." At that Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Don´t be like that. Let me have a look at it.", she ended the sentence with a long sigh as he did not acknowledge her.

"I´m fine.", he grumbled. Quickly she pressed one of her thumps into his back, right below his shoulder blades, which made him yelp.

"Fine, huh? I just want to help you." Her words were filled with sarcasm and a smirk formed on her lips – he would give in, of that she was sure. She was faced with his hard glare but she would not budge.

Huffing in frustration he got up from his chair to stand right in front of her. With his long pale fingers he unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. That alone seemed to cause him slight soreness. Pulling his shirt out of his trousers and over his head he let out a low growl and Hermione had the reason in plain sight. Long red bruises were on his torso and she could only guess that his back did not look any better.

"I´ll get something and meet you in your bedroom.", she said briefly and left the door.

Minutes later she entered his bedroom to find him sprawled out on his bed. He only raised a puzzled eyebrow as she went for the bathroom before she returned with a bowl of water mixed with a potion and a sponge.

Without explaining what she wants to do she kneeled down beside him on the bed and applied the mixture onto the long red marks. All the while she was very aware of his eyes never leaving her hand as she pressed the sponge ever so gently against his skin and drained it with more mixture in between. When she was finished covering his front with the fast-drying mixture she merely sat there on her heels and looked at him. For some seconds he was still staring at her hand in her lap before his eyes wandered up to meet hers.

"Your back.", she breathed. First he frowned at her but then he sighed as if in defeat and propped himself up on his elbows. Grunting he went to sit cross-legged with his back to her.

After a while of applying the mixture on his back Hermione asked: "Will you tell me how this happened?"

Silence. Then a slight hiss as she pressed a little too much which was quite hard not to, for the bruises were far worse than those in the front for he had tended to those.

"I fell." A snort and a hard press on purpose.

"You mean more like being whipped by the Whomping Willow. I only asked out of courtesy." She was rougher with him now and could not care less about his hisses.

"So you listened in on my conversation with Ginny." Sigh. "She told me about your secret hallway."

She put her full weight onto her hand on his back and he barked out: "Stop it, Granger!"

"What? I just wanted to help you.", she said all innocently.

"I don´t need help." Through the sponge she dug her nails into his back.

"Well, neither did I, or did I ask you to go throw Ro-" The name would not leave her lips. " his broom into the Whomping Willow?"

"I didn´t do that.", he pressed through gritted teeth as he clawed his hands into his bed sheets. Hearing that Hermione immediately stopped her torture on him.

"You did not?" Slowly his clutch on the sheets loosened and he relaxed.

"I actually saved him from that bloody tree. That damn idiot should be glad that I noticed Peeves putting a broom into the tree."

"Oh." Hermione´s lips were in the perfect shape of the vowel she had just said. Still, the trademark smirk etched onto his lips told her that there was more to the story to come.

"But you hexed him.", she said scolding. Draco just shrugged it off.

"One of my more brilliant hexes I have to say." The smug look on his face was one of no guilt and he even had the audacity to chuckle.

"Too bad it will fade by tomorrow though." No idea why she did but Hermione could not hold back a short giggle. Somehow the image of a constantly self-slapping Ron was really funny.

"I´m done. See you at lunch, Draco."

Valy made her entrance to the dining room where Draco and his mother were already seated at the table. The elf´s head was bent low and her ears hung from her head like someone had put weights onto them. Nervously she wringed her hands.

"Valy, where is your mistress?" Flinching slightly the elf took a step back.

"Mistress no talk, no away move from window. Staring, just staring." Ever so slowly she lifted her eyes off the ground and looked at Draco most pleadingly.

**/ so here is chapter 35 (yay!) and this time so much faster than the last chapter (I still feel so sorry).**

**I know a lot of you want Draco to be nicer to Hermione and I swear it will come in next chapter but he has already softened up to her. I swear!**

**I hope you liked it. Any ideas what the bad news might be?**

**Why won´t Hermione move or even talk?**

**Did you like the way Draco hexed Ron?**

_**Review, please?**_

**my recommendation for a awesome Dramione fic: _Justice by movingstaircase_ . Read it, it´s really good!  
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**Thanks to all the new followers of this story and to the old ones who have not left me! Love you people!**_**  
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	36. Chapter 36

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

36

"What do you mean, she is neither moving nor talking?" The elf´s eyes widened in fear considerably much. The question had clearly demanded too much of the small creature. Since there seemed to be no answer coming from the elf Draco pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, I´ll go get her on my own." He hid his worry very well behind his mask of indifference but there almost invisibly was it on his mother´s face and clearly etched deep in the elf´s every move.

The way to her rooms was not long. Out of politeness he knocked but nobody responded.

And just like the elf had told them there she stood in front of one grand window. It was wide open and the harsh and cold wind clashed into the room. Her hair was tossed around. The clothes she wore were definitely not enough to shield her from the cold. With long strides he moved towards the window and quickly shut it. This year around Easter it was cold, windy and snowy – very unlike any Easter before.

"Seriously, Granger, what has gotten into you?", he barked as he brushed the snow off his shirt. Met with nothing but a blank stare he frowned and stepped closer.

"Granger, I´m talking to you." Still she would not give a sign that she had even heard him. Annoyed by her ignoring him he stood right in front of her so she could no longer look out of the window but he eyes would not budge an inch and from the glassy look of her eyes he thought she looked right through him.

"Granger!", it was not an angry shout although he sure felt anger surge through his veins when he shook her by the shoulders.

"Merlin, you are ice cold. Smartest witch, tsk. You will catch your death like this." His gaze was on her bare feet and he merely shook his head in disbelief. With his eyes wandering up again he finally caught a glimpse of crumpled paper in her hand.

One by one he pried the piece of paper out of her stiff fingers. Unfolding the paper carefully in front of his eyes he began to read it aloud until the news made his voice die away.

To sum it up: two boys, Colin and Dennis Creevey, and their muggle parents had been cruelly killed by Death Eaters, Justin Finch-Fletchley had barely escaped a Death Eater attack but had to watch his parents being murdered and Ted Tonks was on the run; Justin was safe at whatever was the Head Quarter and Seamus Finnigan and his parents had been brought to some safe place. There were traces of tears on the paper and some of the letters and words were really hard to read.

All color drained out of his face. Although he did not know all these people and the ones he knew he did not know much about he was sure that they were her friends.

"Valy.", he said and the elf popped out of nowhere.

"Help me get her into bed." First the elf tried to lift the girl but he swiftly placed his arms around her shoulder and beneath her knees and lifter her off the ground. Heavily her head fell against his shoulder and he swore for one second she had looked him in the eye before staring into emptiness again. Valy pulled the duvet back so Draco could lie her into her bed.

"Tell mother that I won´t join her for lunch.", he stated while configuring a chair for him to sit on next to Hermione´s bed.

For hours she merely lay there and stared at the ceiling, her eyes dilated and out of focus. Darkness came over the room when the sun hid behind the lines of trees of Malfoy forest. Just for using the bathroom did Draco leave her side. His eye lids were just becoming heavy when she finally snapped out of whatever she had been in and moved her head very slowly to face him. Sadness was written all over her face as a single tear made its way down her cheek.

"My parents.", she rasped out between her dry lips. Of course, her parents.

How could he not have taken this into considerations. The Death Eaters killed off muggle-borns and their parents as well as half-bloods. So being the best friend of Harry Potter clearly did not help her in this case. The prospect of her parents being killed was a horrible one and he was glad he was not in her position.

Suddenly very agitated she sat up in her bed and wanted to stand up but he pushed her back into the mattress.

"You cannot go there now. Not in your condition." Although she could hear it in his voice she did not care about her worry. Hermione had to think about her parents before thinking about herself. They were completely unaware of the threat and the protection charms around her home were basic and would not withstand any Death Eater attacks.

"My parents!", she cried out and tried to push against his hands, her nails digging into the flesh of his fingers.

"Let go! I need to know they are safe. I have to!", she screamed but he would only press her harder.

"Valy!", he shouted the name of the elf although there was no need to do so. Immediately the frightened little thing stood in the room staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of her.

"Go to your Mistress´ parents´ house and see if everything is alright. Stay with them until I tell you otherwise, keep hidden and get them somewhere safe if you have to. Now!" With one last glance at her mistress she disappeared with a loud _plop_.

"There! They´ll be safe. I won´t have you go there. Sleep now, you´ll have a clearer mind tomorrow.", he hissed while he slowly let go of her. Glaring up at him she turned her back to him.

"Shove off, Malfoy.", she snapped.

Too happy to oblige he stormed out of the room but not without putting a sealing charm on her room so she would not leave. Also he had an elf bring her some soup since she had missed out on two meals.

The next morning she looked like a ghost and there was no doubt she slept very much that night. That he had kept her from seeing her parents the night before she had clearly not forgotten for she ignored him and had a broody aura around her the whole time during breakfast. As soon as she was finished she left the room, excusing herself to read a book. He had been too hard on her and he knew it. Guilt was nothing a Malfoy felt very often and was fond of so after he was done reading the Daily Prophet Draco went to see her. The only thing he found in her room was a scared Valy who crouched down under his stare.

"Where is she?", he asked in a dark, cold voice. The elf shielded her body with her hands, as she was afraid to be physically punished by the angered wizard.

"Mistress call Valy, then floo away. Want to stop but fast not enough. Bad, bad elf." Frustrated at Granger´s behavior and annoyed he sighed.

"It´s not your fault.", he said sharply and went to the fire place.

"Tell me the address." Valy squeaked more than spoke but he still got it and vanished in green flames.

In the living room he was presented with Mrs. and Mr. Granger sitting on the couch unmoving. They were under the _Petrificus Totalus_ charm. Alarmed by that and because Granger was nowhere in sight he pulled out his wand. Carefully, very carefully he made his way through the house to find it empty. From a window on the first floor he could see foot prints in the snow leading away from the house. Only one pair of foot prints. Good so there was only Granger there. At the back of the garden he could see her standing near a snow-covered plant.

Taking the things she had packed into a suitcase from her room he went back downstairs and sat down in the living room to wait for her to come in. She took her sweet time and soon he got worried that again she was in a state of emptiness so he went into the garden.

The plant she stood in front of was no longer covered by snow but was in full bloom.

Fresh green and brilliant pink.

When he closed his eyes and concentrated he could smell the sweet note of the rose. The crunching sound of his steps made her whip around.

"Ah, it´s you, Draco.", she said in a relieved voice and lowered her wand.

"I´ve been waiting for you to come back inside." With an absent smile she smelled the rose in her hand.

"My dad planted it for me the summer I got my letter from Hogwarts. They were so proud." Miserably she looked at the house and her shoulders were hunched. The rose in hand she walked inside.

Awkwardness spread between them as they stood in the living room with her parents still unmoving.

"Um… I´ll be there in a minute.", she said lamely, clearly wanting to be alone while parting from her parents.

"I give you 5 minutes. No more.", Draco said and threw the flooing powder to his feet.

Four of these minutes they spend on staring at their parents. When their parting was no longer deferrable she sighed and placed a kiss on her parents´ cheeks.

"I promise I will find you when all of this is over." The memory charm was casted and as soon as she would floo to Malfoy Manor they would begin to plan their migration to Australia.

Draco stood there when she stepped out of the fire place.

"They´ll be fine.", she stated and wanted to take her suitcase out of his hand.

"What about you?" His hand would not let go of the suitcase for he wanted an answer.

"I´m fine.", she forced out after a deep breath. Not very willing he handed her the suitcase before exiting her room.

The rest of the day Hermione kept to herself and did not talk much during lunch or dinner.

The thought of her parents who now believed that they never had a daughter haunted her. But it had been the right thing to do and she knew it. Still she felt a pang of loneliness and the upcoming war felt so much more real. In Australia they would be safe. No Death Eater would find them there and she would have to worry about one thing less. And yet sending them away brought new worries with it.

_What if she could not find them after the war? _

_What if the charm had damaged their memory and they won´t be able to remember her? _

_What if they had a child?_

So many questions without an answer.

Hermione told herself that time would bring the answers with it but she knowing answers. With the decision she had made her world went out of control. There was no clear future anymore. All her plans could be destroyed so easily. Those thoughts tormented her and she could find no sleep.

That was why she had actually heard the click of her bedroom door being opened. Only when she felt someone sit down on her bed did she turn around. It was Draco who lifted up the duvet to lie down beside her. They did not exchange words but she understood that he did not want her to be alone that night. He did not complain when she moved closer and even put his arm around her. Engulfed by his warmth the tears that had refused to fall made their way into her eyes.

**/ next chapter will have the important twist to the plot so be excited!**

**how did you like this chapter?**

**what do you think will happen next? (oh, you will never guess it fully right XD)**

_**Review, please?**_


	37. Chapter 37

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

37

Not once did he move away from her but let her press her face into his shoulder as she sobbed and cried. With his thumb he drew relaxing circles onto her back and caressed her shoulder.

It was so different from the last time she had cried in his presence. This time he did not deny her the attention she needed.

The gentle brush of his fingers against her wet cheeks, the way he patted her hair, how he held her close to him. Never had she thought that Draco Malfoy of all people could make her feel so warm. After her last sniff she became still and just enjoyed his closeness.

She wanted to thank him but she must look like a mess after all the crying so she got up and went into the bathroom to wash her face. The tear strains were gone and her eyes looked less puffy and red. During her stay in the bathroom he had not moved an inch and so she settled back the way she had been before.

The steady drum of his heart was soothing and she ran her fingers up and down his torso. Letting out a content sight she propped herself up on her elbow to look at him. Of course she had always known that he was rather good-looking but the look he gave her just took her breath away. His eyes were a brilliant silver.

Slowly, without really noticing it she leaned in, never breaking the eye contact until their lips met. It was merely a butterfly kiss but still a rush of heat went through her body. Hermione´s cheeks took the color of peaches and she swore her heart wanted to break out of her. Actually she wanted to blurt out a _"I´m sorry."_ but instead she found herself drawn into those silver eyes again.

This time the kiss lasted a little longer and she applied some more pressure. It was like electricity when he returned the gesture. Their lips moved perfectly together and she felt so happy that her lips curled into a tiny smile.

The feeling of lightheadedness took her over for expect for him and her everything seemed to move so fast while the moments their lips made contact felt like sweet eternity. His arms, he had wrapped around her hips, were the only thing that kept her from floating into the room it seemed.

Slowly one of his hands wandered up her back and he tangled his fingers into her hair playfully. The touch of his fingertips against her head felt like small electric shocks and she could not keep the long hum that escaped her lips as he pulled her even closer.

The situation heated up as he deepened the kiss more and softly licked over her lip to beg entrance for his tongue. Unlike Ron had formerly done he did not just plunge it inside her mouth and smother her with it by its dominating her mouth but skillfully danced with hers.

Pulling away slightly to catch her breath she caught the sight of his dilated pupils which made his eyes almost seem black. Although she desired nothing more than to kiss him yet again she felt the urge to touch his face, caress him. With her fingers she traced the lines of his faces – forehead, eyebrow, cheekbone and chin. A smile graced her lips.

It was this simple gesture that snapped Draco out of it and his brows furrowed while he used his agility to swiftly turn her so that she faced away from him. From deep within his throat he growled, his hot breath tickled her ear and she felt the vibration of the sound from his torso against her back. One of his arms lay beneath her head and served as a pillow while the other circled around her waist and held her close.

He was so near that she could hear his heart beat.

It was so much like hers: fast.

Although she knew that it had excited him as well she felt rejected and sadness overcame her once more. His proximity could not keep her from feeling alone and cold. She did not care whether he realized that it were tears that fell upon his arm from her eyes or not.

It hurt – being rejected.

Draco knew very well what his action had caused but their talk about what had happened would come soon enough and he still felt too excited and too tempted to go through with what they had begun.

If he had known that the time for them talking about it would not come the next day or any of the following weeks he sure would have explained how he did not want to take advantage of her right there right then but of course he could not know that.

What occurred the next morning was so horrible that he could have never thought up such a scenario.

The high-pitched scream of Hermione still rung in his ears now that he stood at the lake.

He had already been awake and sitting on one of her comfortable couches when it all happened so fast.

Too fast.

Out of thin air there were Death Eaters in the Manor – to be more precise in Hermione´s bedroom. Only the small sound of them appearing out a cloud of shadow was warning.

Curses were shouted, red and green in color they flew through the room. An enormous amount of fear settled in his stomach and he would swear it twisted into knot.

His body moved on its own, all his thoughts were with her in the bedroom.

The windows broke.

When Draco arrived in the bedroom he could only see her running away from his aunt, only dressed in her pajamas, her feet bare, wand in hand. Bellatrix clearly had the upper hand for she caught up with her fast.

He wanted to come to her aid when a spell hit him hard. All energy seemed to be drained out of his body as he slammed against the floor. Had his head not faced outside he would have been spared the sight. Motionless he had to watch as his crazy aunt hunted Hermione through the garden.

Again and again Hermione turned around to fire curses but her aiming was not good enough. He could not hear which profanities his aunt used to insult his wife but he was sure mudblood was one of them.

A huge explosion was followed by a blinding white light and Draco had to blink several times to see what had happened.

There was no sign of Hermione, just his aunt standing there seemingly shooting curses into nowhere.

Realization struck him as Bellatrix bowed over.

The lake.

Hermione had walked onto the icy surface of the lake. For moments his world stood still. With a swift movement of her wand his aunt had brought the motionless body of Hermione to float in midair.

A dance of joy.

Draco released the breath he had not noticed he had held. It was meant to be a scream but it only came out as a huff.

Dead.

There she lay and although it was over Bellatrix still fixed with some kicks and spitted at her dead body. It was disgusting to watch and nobody took pity on him and at least rolled him over so he was no longer forced to watch.

Of course he could have just press his eyes shut but his lids would not move.

Everything that had happened was his fault and he could not deny it. From the beginning he had known that there was a chance – and not a small one at that – that Death Eaters will attack them.

He had drawn her into this just because he wanted to save his own egoistic ass and this was the result of it. Running away and hiding would have been a better option but he could not do this to his mother.

He had put his well-being over everybody else´s.

Unlike what he had thought when he had come up with his plan he was not indifferent. Back then of course he had only thought of the possibility of her being slightly hurt or injured but never of what was presented to him. All this time he had tried to keep a distance between them but he had failed.

She had not reacted like he had thought she would and neither had he.

Nothing had gone as planned.

Pity should not have been the reason she would help him but because he forced her to. Their relationship should stay the same with the difference of him having the ultimate advantage over her.

A prisoner that was what he had planned for her to be in Malfoy Manor.

Not a guest. So the tear that ran down his face was not only caused by guilt but also by something he had realized way too late.

After all the time he had spent on hating Hermione Granger he had begun to actually like her. The things he had despised about her no longer seemed bad but like a part of her personality, which in its whole made her so likeable.

So here he stood at the lake and looked down through the small round glass of the coffin. Her face was pale, almost white, her lips were some shade of blue and her cheeks had lost their rosy glow. Yet despite all these alterations to her face she was still beautiful.

Although her death had been so cruel he had made sure that her burial would be dignified.

The press was there and he would have thrown them out the moment he saw them but Death Eaters were watching him from the woods and the house.

He was officially a prisoner and forced to do whatever they wanted from him to assure his mother´s safety. So all he could do was to pretend there were no cameras and no threatening Death Eaters – his father among them.

She would be buried right where his aunt had pulled her out of the water. When her coffin was let into the ground a stone plate closed it up. Upon this plate Valy had engraved a rose pattern with her magic, so much like the one she had brought back with her from her home.

The press would later on describe the ceremony as very sad and touching. The cause given in those articles would be accidentally breaking into the snow-covered lake and drowning.

**/ please don´t go on hating me just yet. The next chapter will come soon.**

**Hope you liked the chapter.**

_**Review, please?**_

_**btw: tomorrow ( 2nd Septembre) is my birthday  
><strong>_


	38. Chapter 38

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

38

Of course the Daily Prophet found its way into the Order´s headquarters in Grimmauld Place.

The death of Hermione Malfoy had made the front page. _"Potter´s best friend died in accident"_ read the headline.

It was more about how tragicly hero Harry Potter must be suffering from yet another death among his loved ones. The article not only featured a picture of the coffin but also one of Draco Malfoy.

It was this photograph that drew in Ron´s attention the most. Unlike Ron Harry had not wanted to read the article and was content with what Mr. Weasley had told him about it.

He had his mind on other things. Well, rather on the girl sleeping in the room next to his and Ron´s. All of a sudden they were together. He was happy that it had come to this although the reason for it was a horrible one. Death Eater became stronger by the minute.

There were even rumors of them trying to invade Hogwarts, which was impossible.

His research on the Horcruxes was still very fruitless and with this the fall of Voldemort far away. With a sigh Harry slumped down into a chair and grabbed a bowl of cereals.

"Man, look at that _asshole_. As emotionless as ever, not even her death could bring him to show some feelings." Annoyed Harry shoved the paper, Ron had put right in front of his eyes, away.

"What?! Look at him!", Ron snapped. Fixing him with a look that told him to just leave it be Harry grabbed his bowl and a glass of water.

"I´m going up. Maybe your mom will let me finally in."

Lucky as he was, a very exhausted Mrs. Weasley left the room, and so he just had to wait for her to be out of sight to go into the room.

Only a single candle casted light in the room. It was dim, yet warm. Taking a seat on the chair next to the bed Harry put down the glass of water he had brought for her and began to eat his breakfast.

The clatter of him throwing the spoon into the bowl when he was finished seemed to wake the girl. With a long moan she turned around to look at him. "Harry.", she said with the attempt of a smile on her lips. Her voice was hoarse.

"Here, have some water." Letting her hold onto the glass on her own had been foolish of him for she still had not strength in her. Quickly he took the glass and helped her drink some.

"Thanks." After he had put the glass away he held her hands.

"Your hands are warm. You really scared me when you appeared out of nowhere, all soaked and ice cold. I was worried." For quite some time he had thought that she would die. It would have been very ironically. After all she had managed to escape from within a no-apparition area.

_He and Ron had been in their room talking about Quidditch when there was this enormous noise downstairs. _

_The others were already blocking their view of whatever had appeared. The high squeaky voice betrayed the house elf. Harry had been very puzzled about a house elf coming to Grimmauld Place for Kreacher and Dobby had been the only ones who could get in. Well, at least that is what he had thought. _

_His puzzlement was replaced with pure worry as he saw that the house elf was not alone but had brought an unconscious Hermione with it. Mrs. Weasley, Lupin and Tonks quickly brought her up into Ginny´s room to take care of her. _

_Three days had passed without any of them being allowed to see or even speak to her. It had been nerve-wrecking and Harry always expected the worst._

_ Watching her sleep peacefully in Ginny´s bed with just shallow scratches he could not describe the weight that dropped off his heart. _

"Oh, Harry.", she whispered and threw her arms around his neck with the little strength she had in her. He held her close and could not stifle to sniff.

"I´m sorry I scared you.", was what she kindly whispered into his ear. He could not hold back and bark out a laughter. There was no reason she should feel sorry for if she had not escaped she would have been dead and that would have been a lot more horrible than her appearing soaking wet. Seeing that she could barely sit upright he placed her back into bed.

"How did you do it anyway?" The ghost of a grin passed her lips and the intelligent glint in her eye twinkled at him. This was the Hermione he knew, at least a trace of her.

"In Malfoy Manor I had a lot of books I had never heard of before at my disposal."

"Of course it had to do with books, Hermione.", he said jokingly and she rolled her eyes at him.

"The books are old and many spells should never be used but some are quite useful. It was one of those spells that allowed me to create a very convincing dead form of myself. Although…." Here she coughed and Harry helped her to take a sip from her glass of water.

"Thanks, Harry. Anyways, the spell took a lot of time to prepare but there never was much I could do in the manor and I figured that it might come in handy." Once more she opened her mouth to say some more but her eyes became distant and she just clutched her glass of water. Realizing that she must have remembered something terrible he reached out to caress her hand.

"It´s okay, Mione. I´ve heard enough for now." As she began to sob he sat down beside her in bed and circled his arm around her so she could cry into his shoulder.

Both of them were so exhausted that they fell asleep. Harry did not know how he had gotten into his own bed but he was quite sure that Mrs. Weasley had taken him out of Hermione´s room so she could get more rest.

As Hermione got better she was allowed to go downstairs for meals but she felt that everyone was treating her as if she was fragile as porcelain. The way they looked at her and how they did every little thing for her. Even fetching a spoon for her bowl of cereals seemed to be too much for her in their eyes.

Also she noticed how they stopped talking from time to time when she entered a room or the sound of paper being put away. Sure, when Harry had asked her about the spell she had used to get out she had broken out in tears but she was not so weak that she could not handle whatever it was they were keeping from her. She wanted to know- she needed to.

The thought of something the others meant to hide from her made her imagination run wild.

_How bad was the situation outside of Grimmauld Place really? How many had died so far? What had happened at the Manor after she had escaped?_

Not knowing weighed down more on her than any bad news could have and soon she found herself sneaking out of her room at night to search the rooms for the papers and other things which might give her a clue about what was going on.

Only by knowing the twins and their habits for so long was she able to find the papers in some trick drawer. The drawer had been spelled to look full with random things and felt like it but only for a split second. Then the image changed and the drawer appeared to be empty. Still it was not as deep as the others and in there she found the newspapers which had been hid from her.

There was barely any normal news in them. Mostly about the Death Eaters.

After numerous attacks they had overtaken the Ministry of Magic, putting one of their most vile ones as minister. There also was an article of her death with a picture of Draco.

To most people he might have looked cold and indifferent but after spending so much time with him and getting to know him better she saw something very different. A strange mixture of sadness, fear and determination. He had always hated to show weakness.

She wondered what had happened after her faked death. Whether the Death Eaters had forced him to join them or if they had punished him as a blood traitor.

Although it was harsh of her she hoped for the later. There definitely would come the time when she would see him again and then she would rather still have him on the _good_ side than anywhere else.

"That prick did not even care one bit about you.", it was a cold voice, a hard one but she recognized it to be Ron´s.

"Oh, really? And you would know because you cared so much about me?" She did not even turn around but kept on looking through the papers. From the corner of her eye she could see him move on the armchair in the corner of the room.

To find information was what she had come down for not to hear him insulting her and the ones she loved.

_Love_.

Did she really love him? Draco? Maybe, it sure felt different from what she had felt for Ron and was far away from what she had had with Viktor.

Below the article she held there was a ripped-out page of a notepad. The writing was barely legible but there clearly were the words _Malfoy_ and _Death Eater_ on it. Uncontrollable tears ran down her cheek and she crumpled the piece of paper.

"At least I´m not one of _them_.", Ron bit out and tore the article from her hand.

"Because he for sure is. A dream came true." His voice was dripping with venom and sarcasm.

"Shut up, Ronald." Her voice was weak and begging. It seemed like slowly her world was beginning to crumble around her. All she had done was for nothing in the end. The whole purpose of the marriage had been to keep him from becoming a Death Eater and right after her death – or more after her fake one- all had gone to waste. She could not even try to imagine what was currently happening in Malfoy Manor.

"Tsk. You can´t tell me to be quiet. All I´m doing is telling the truth."

"Shut up!", she yelled at him and when that would not wipe the triumphant smile off his face she drove her fist right into it. The pain she felt was paired with satisfaction at the sight of Ron´s bleeding nose.

Still the world started spinning around her because she had used too much energy on treating Ron the way he was supposed to be. Under his breath he cursed her and even the much dreaded word was among those hateful things he called her.

* * *

><p>It had become warmer and so it rained instead of snowed. Still her grave was framed in white.<p>

From where he stood at the window Draco could not see her peaceful face through the little glass. Her features would not wither for they had put a spell on her. If it had happened under any other circumstances it would have been a nice idea but like this it was punishment. Every day since it had happened they forced him to go out into the cold to look at her – at what he had done. Sure, it had been Bellatrix´s curse that killed her but it had been him who had started their charade and in the end this was the one and only reason of her death.

Most of the room had been trashed by Death Eaters especially the books and all the muggle things.

From his father he had received a fierce beating in front of the Dark Lord and his followers. His wanting to protect his mother when it had been her turn to get punished had ended with a _Cruciatus_ from Snape. It had been the worst pain he had ever felt but still he knew that the curse performed by anyone else would have been more intense.

They wanted to see him trembling with fear and screaming in horror. Only once or twice he had given them that favor – his weakest moments. Sure, disobedience meant that he brought his and his mother´s lives into danger but he could not bring himself to act like they wanted him to

… not yet.

* * *

><p><strong>so I know this update took me forever but I had already written a couple more chapters but hated all of them so I redid this one and hope that the next ones won´t take me that long to write so you will know what will happen next**

**how do you like this chapter? (I hope better than the previous one)**

**_Review, please?_**


	39. Chapter 39

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

39

School had started again and as a dead person Hermione could not just go back and pretend being a new student by drinking polyjuice potion every once in a while. This clearly would be too suspicious.

So Hermione started to form a daily routine which made her feel helpful yet was boring. Only letters from Harry or Ginny, that were written in the code she had invented, would lighten her mood and bring change to her ever-ongoing days of gaining information on the Dark Arts and reading and rereading newspaper articles to find just the hint they might need.

Well, these letters tended to brighten her mood less and less as the news got worse and the scratching feeling on her subconscious that they again started to hold back some things from her started to grow. The worst was that she knew her friends and their ways just a little too well. Harry was always cautious not to worry her too much especially after she had returned to them after her fake death while Ginny was clearly for the up-front way to deliver information although Hermione still knew that her friend liked to keep secrets. As a girl with only brothers and very nosy ones at that she was very good at it and so Hermione paid extra attention on every single word of her letters.

_Brilliant, not much happened, just the usual_ … all those were phrases that meant a lot more.

_Brilliant_ was like a code for "something terrible occurred but only I know and will keep it a secret".

_Not much happened_ was really just an understatement while _just the usual_ meant that she was not sure about telling her something or not.

For Harry just did not tell her about most of the tings and Ginny only hinted at some Hermione had to let her imagination run wild. Of a few things she was absolutely sure.

The threat posed by the Death Eaters on Hogwarts was graver than ever. Pupils, especially the Slytherins, showed more and more signs of anti-muggle attitude and behavior. Many muggle-born and half-born students had not returned to Hogwarts and probably fled with their parents to some safe hiding spots. Harry clearly had some suspicions about Snape being a mole, which she thought was quite the guessing and blaming game of him for he had no real evidence.

And last and worst she received information on Draco. He must look more ghastly than ever and be really thin. Also he had gone back to being friends with Crabbe and Goyle… well that was what Harry thought while Ginny who was much more observant when it came to relationships wrote that Draco had returned to the brutes but did not seem to have taken back his role as leader of the trio.

To know so much and at the same time so little made Hermione want to pull her hair and scream out loud.

On multiple occasions she had found herself very tempted to floo to school just to get a picture of it on her own. But actions like that were not sensible and would only mean danger – not only to her but also to the Order … and of course to Draco. She could not imagine to what conclusions the Death Eaters would come if the news of her being very much alive came about.

So, with no interruption to her daily routine she found herself becoming more and more depressed. The news she found and the spells she discovered in the library were rarely new or of much help. She felt useless and the more obscure information she got on what was going on in Hogwarts and with her husband the more she found her thoughts wandering in his direction.

One day at which she had not achieved anything she withdrew into the attic and let all her frustration out. Her cheeks were tearstained and she could barely muffle her sobs.

Then an idea came to her. Brilliant. So simple.

The simplicity and obviousness of her thought made her laugh out loud. How could she have been such a fool? She could not believe that she had not come up with it much earlier.

If she could not go to Hogwarts to see what was really going on and her friends were too cautious to tell her the facts it did not mean that she could not send somebody she trusted. There were tons of house elves in Hogwarts and nobody cared about them as long as there was plenty of food on the tables for meal time. Only she had ever done that and she was here in Grimauld Place.

There were some risks to her plan but the chances of something happening were slight. Oh yes, she could do it. She knew just the elf who would help her. And she did not even have to stay long in Hogwarts. Nobody would notice her absence.

Wiping her face with the sleeve of her sweater Hermione could not help it but smile. "Valy. Please come if you can."

Nothing happened, she simply sat there and listened to the creaking sound of the old wood panels.

What was wrong? Was Valy too occupied? Had she taken Hermione´s request of taking care of Draco too seriously?

With a hissing sound she drew in her breath. There was one possibility she had not taken into consideration. It hit her like a punch. What if something had happened to Valy? It would be very plausible.

The Death Eater would not want a house elf who had served a low mud blood to stay in Malfoy Manor. Sending her away would be too dangerous and killing her just too easy. The little creature had served her so lovingly and unconditionally that Hermione felt a stab in her heart at the thought of some vile Death Eater cursing her with the most Unforgivable without even the slightest blink of the eye.

For the first time she asked herself where dead house elves were brought. Definitely not buried – that she was sure of. Simply disposed in the domestic waste? If Voldemort was truly stationed in Malfoy Manor then so was Nagini and a house elf would be a welcome snack for the snake.

Crabbe and Goyle were never ones of the brighter sort but they sure had a talent for cruelty. They did not let any chance go past to remind him of his loss. In their more _creative_ stages they would torture him with thoughts of how they would have liked to see the mud blood die.

For them being chased by the maddest witch in history and drowning clearly was not enough. It was a_ kind_ way. That is what they called it.

_The head students dorm was his sanctuary and Crabbe and Goyle knew. _

_To make him less comfortable, less safe even and to keep him nearby they would force him into the Slytherin dorms. It was not like he could easily tell these two off like he could have done before. _

_They were Death Eater now – dangerous – and unlike him they were in the Dark Lord´s favor. Not fallen from grace, at the bottom, the subject of distrust. He was clearly at their mercy. _

_They were meant to be his watch dogs but they fully exploited their position. Dogs they were, the vilest ones anyone could have thought of. And the physical pain they liked to inflict on him was by far not as harsh as the psychological tortures they enjoyed. The way they liked to show off how they have more pull now and how the things had changed was the thing he could cope with quite well. _

_It was their nightly pleasure to force him to sit by the fireplace in the Slytherin dorm while they made up any kind of punishment and torture for a mud blood. Their imagination was fueled by alcohol and at their peak of amusement they forced other fellow Slytherins to come up with own vile creations. _

_Not all of the Slytherins were very willing to join the invention of horrible tortures but the veiled threat of becoming a victim to Crabbe and Goyle was enough to make anyone creative. _

_As if forcing him to listen to all those things Draco had to grin and bear it. All those mentions of using the most Unforgivable curse on his wife he could take with a sour smile but then there were more colorful accounts of how his wife could or _should_ have died. _

_Fire was always a welcome option. Here the stories ranked from simply burning Hermione to death for everyone to see to slowly inflaming parts of her. Bit by bit. _

_The use of a hot fire place poker was very popular since it was at hand at their nightly meeting point. Poking and stabbing were not the only ways they would put it to use. _

_There was also branding to be thought of. Here the word mud blood was one of the more kinder ones they would eternalize on her skin. _

_The most gruesome ill-usage of a hot fireplace poker was to insert it. At the mention of this Crabbe an Goyle would howl like wolves mimicing the cries of pain. Their faces would contort into ghoulish grins. If a female Slytherin was unlucky enough to be around at those times they would pin her down an act it out. Of course the poker was not hot then but the scene was still unbearable to watch. _

_But they made him. No mercy was shown to him._

_ Gladly Crabbe had been a little too enthusiastic with the poker one night and had sliced the inside of a girl´s thigh. Afterwards all the female Slytherins made sure to be safely locked into their rooms._

_Physical violence like hitting or kicking Hermione was the easiest to handle. They were never very creative with this kind of inflicting pain. _

_Still Crabbe developed a perverse taste for blood. He would muse for hours just how many deep cuts a body could take, how long it would take to bleed someone dry or how deep you could cut or stab someone without hurting any vital organs. Fortunately all the girls had already begun to lock themselves up when he found this new passion of his._

Yet one night they drove Draco to the edge of madness with their invented stories.

For a long time it had not come into their mind that there were different ways of torture for men and women. A kind of humiliation that would thoroughly destroy a person. The sheer number of male Death Eaters against a single mud blood made the ways of torture endless. By suggesting all kind of horrible acts they did not even take into account that by being linked via the ring they would not only hurt Hermione but also Draco.

With this existing link it would have probably killed him even.

Still this provoked the sweetest thoughts in Draco.

Freedom.

Death would have saved him.

No being victim to his old cronies.

No fearing what would happen to his family if he did not gain the trust of the Dark Lord again.

No reliving those moments of seeing Hermione drown in the pond.

Sweet paradise.

Thus he broke out in lunatic laughter in the middle of Crabbe and Goyle´s description of the things they would have done to his _whore_ wife. This unpredictable and utterly mad reaction of his casted silence over his tormentors. So completely out of his mind was he that he even endured Goyle clapping his shoulder in approval.

In his tormentors eyes he had finally found back to his old self.

His true self.

In reality he thought about provoking them to that point that one would finally release him from this life. And it would be such an easy tasks.

Somehow he hated himself for thinking about it.

Hermione Granger. She would have fought. She had fought.

Fighting had caused her death and he wanted to choose the easy way out. Easy. Quick. Cowardly.

They had not even noticed that he had stopped his laughter and drawn his wand. And when the light of his spell reflected in their eyes it was already too late.

**It has taken me forever to finally sit down and finish this chapter. I cannot guarantee that the updates will be more frequent from now on but I will try.**

**I hope none of you curse me for leaving you with such a cliff hanger.**

**Reviews are always welcome.**


	40. Chapter 40

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

40

"Harry! Harry! I´m talking to you so stop glaring Snape to death!", Ginny hissed across the table at breakfast.

It did not help. It was like everything had become non-existent when Harry was in one of his Snape-is-a-mole phases again. Everybody else around him ceased to be of importance. If looks cool kill, Snape would have already died a thousand deaths.

His obsession with Snape was so deep that he sometimes forgot to eat. The sleep deprivation had etched dark circles beneath his eyes, which were no longer their usual bright green but a dull mud color. To make matters even worse Ron was encouraging Harry in every theory about Snape being a traitor to the Order.

With an exasperated huff Ginny decided to no longer be ignored. Her breakfast tea was steaming hot and so was her spoon. With a swift move she placed her spoon first on Harry´s then on Ron´s hand. Hissing both withdrew their hands.

They might be glaring at Ginny but it did not matter to her. She had finally got their attention.

"Do you two numbskulls even realize that there are more pressing matters at hand than your fantasy of Snape being a mole?" Harry was about to talk back like he always did lately. She was so sick and tired of his endless reasoning of how Snape had been behaving strangely and how someone – apparently Harry and Ron – had to keep an eye out for him.

"Oh, shut it, Harry Potter! I have had it with your fantasies. Yes, fantasies! For that is what they all are! Just! FANTASIES!" As Ron wanted to step in for his friend she merely pressed the hot spoon on his stupid freckled face.

"Ouch!", Ron shrieked but no mercy could be expected from his younger sister.

"While you two were paranoid about Snape, you were completely blind to what just happened right in front of your eyes." Slowly both of them scanned the Great Hall. With a lopsided smile from Harry and a shrug from her brother they looked back at her.

"Everything is as always, Ginny. I don´t get what all your ruckus is about.", Ron said and was about to turn back to observing Snape when Ginny snapped: "Don´t you dare turning away from me again, _Ronald Bilius Weasley_" Nothing brought Ron back to his senses quicker than his full name being spoken out loud. Well, the only thing faster was his mother calling him by his full name but his sister sure grew scarier every year.

"Well, now that you seem to be all ears. When I said right in front of you, I literally meant right in front of you." Giving them this very subtle hint they stared straight ahead. When she had let them stare along, while she had finished her breakfast of beans and toast, Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Are you serious?"

"Please enlighten us, Ginny.", Harry asked. "We are at the mercy of your skill of sharp observation", Ron begged exaggeratedly.

With a unbelieving shake of her head she locked her eyes with those two blinds. "Fine. I guess you two have already figured that it is about the Slytherin table." Both nodded.

"Well, the moods seems even worse than lately."

"Tsk. The Slytherins have a bad day, so what?", Ron asked in his most bored voice and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Especially two of them are in a horrible mood. Crabbe and Goyle. And who have those two not let out of sight lately?" Finally it had dawned upon Harry for his eyes widened and he raised his eyebrows.

"Where is Malfoy?" This time it was up to Ginny to shrug. "Not in the Great Hall. And do you see those other Slytherins? It´s as if they are shrinking away from those brutes. Like they could lash out any moment."

"So the second question is: What has happened to get them this angry?", Harry concluded with knitted brows.

"I think to be more precise it should probably be: What has Draco Malfoy done to get them this pissed off?"

Skeptical Ron raised one brow. "Why do you think that it is about something Malfoy has done? Up till now he has been their obedient lap dog. Malfoy does not have enough guts to go against them."

At that Ginny stood up. "Well, if you are so clever then I have one more question for you. If Malfoy had escaped their control, who would they punish for it? I know for it´s plain in sight who they have already chosen." This said she stormed off.

And it really was very obvious that a scapegoat had been found. The way Blaise Zabini sat at the table could best be described as sunken into himself. His posture was the opposite of erect. His shoulders were drooping and his head was slightly drawn between his shoulders as if trying to dodge.

Yesterday he had been his old teasing self and overnight his skin had taken a sickly ashen tone. "I guess Ginny has been right. For the time being we have to pull our minds off Snape and concentrate on finding out what has happened.

Keeping an eye out for Draco Malfoy, they soon realized that he was nowhere to be found. Which only left more questions.

Just how grave was the thing he had done?

Had he escaped the tyranny of his former pals?

Were they keeping him prisoner

Those were more imminent problems. No bad gut feeling about Snape could hide the fact that something was seriously amiss with the Slytherins. And Draco would stay absent.

Escaped, caged … dead?

It was well past midnight. Ginny was at her little desk in the girls´ dorm. In front of her lay a letter.

_Dear Hermione_ was all it said.

She had not written to her friend for a couple of days which clearly broke their routine. There was no way she could put into words just how few she knew. Actually she had not gotten further with the matter of Draco Malfoy missing. All those uncertainties and suspicions were not made to be written down in a letter. What would it help to burden Hermione with all those things.

Although Hermione would never admit it, Ginny knew that certain things must have happened between her friend and their former enemy that changed everything – especially feelings.

It was useless.

Again. She would not finish the letter. A further day of torture for Hermione. But no news were better than any in this case.

She needed sleep and maybe tomorrow she would come up with the perfect words to describe this mess.

Still the matter was so prominent in her mind that finding sleep was impossible. She had done all she could think of to gain information.

Hell, she had even gone as far as catching Pansy Parkinson in a dark hallway.

_Pansy had squealed like a pig when Ginny had pulled her behind an armour. She had even bit her when she tried to silence her. _

_"Sod off, Crabbe, you filthy swine." The elbow was well placed in Ginny´s stomach and with one sharp hiss she let out all her breath. _

_"Weasley?!", Pansy asked quite surprised. _

_"Yeah." _

_"What the hell do you want from me? I thought some perv wanted to molest me." When the pain in her stomach subsided she stood straight again. _

_"Be quiet. I have no such things on my mind. Just a couple of questions." _

_"Questions?", she asked in a hushed voice while carefully looking the other girl up and down. _

_"About Malfoy." _

_"Draco? Where is he?" For a second they just stood there in silence and stared at each other in disbelieve. _

_"You don´t know where he is? Well, that means I don´t have to ask you about his whereabouts.", frustrated Ginny sighed and combed through her hair with her fingers._

_ "Do you at least know what happened?" Pansy simply shook her head. Ginny was about to walk off when Pansy grapped her wrist and held her back. _

_"It must have happened at night. We girls began locking us up in our rooms since Crabbe and Goyle have gone mad. All I know is that at one moment they laughed and the next all was silent. For hours no sound could be heard and then there was shouting and screaming. The boys were so scared the next morning. None of us dares to ask." With a final squeeze to her wrist Pansy left Ginny behind._

Sleep would not come to her. Her mind was racing with thoughts. So many possibilities.

Giving up Ginny put on her dressing gown and went down the stairs into the common room. She was so lost in the riddle that was Draco Malfoy´s disappearance that she jumped when a voice called her name.

"Harry." With a tired smile on his lips he patted the place on the couch next to him.

"Couldn´t sleep?", he asked gently.

"No."

"Neither could I. I just can´t wrap my head around Malfoy´s disappearance." With a sigh she let herself fall onto the couch.

"It´s such a mess. Nothing makes sense." For some time they just sat there staring at the gleaming coals of the fire place. It was so peaceful. Soothing even.

"Guess what I did.", Harry challenged her. Ginny was too tired to think of anything so she just looked at him questioningly. "I tried to read up about vanishing spells in the library."

At that Ginny snorted. "How very Hermione of you. Did you find anything?"

"No, quite the opposite."

"You lost something?" Bemusedly Harry shook his head. "Books are missing. Madam Pince is not amused. Even some of the dark magic section. Those might have even disappeared at the same time Malfoy did."

**Happy New Year to all of you. After this (super long) hiatus, writing this chapter has been very easy for me and I hope to stay this inspired. It will only be a couple more days before I begin working again so I will try to write further chapters. **

**Can someone recommend a beta-reader? I know my grammer is not always perfect and for the sake of my readers I want to improve that.**

**I always love reading your comments 3**


	41. Chapter 41

**Author´s Note: just so you do not get confused. In this chapter I go back to the night Draco disappeared and tell part of what happened.**

**In the second part were are back to the present of this story with Hermione.**

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

41

_It was too much. Too many conflicting thoughts were running through his mind: what he had done, what he should have done, what he should do now, what they would do to his parents. _

_Draco Malfoy was walking aimlessly through the corridors of Hogwarts. Cold sweat broke out and ran down his back. He had never felt this miserable in his life before. Well, almost. It felt like his insides were twisted into hard knots. _

_Air. He needed fresh air. Quickening his pace, his stomach churned and he threw up into the nearest vase. Those vases had always seemed useless but now they finally served another purpose than being a dust catcher. _

"_Mr. Malfoy." The dismissive voice was familiar. Familiar and welcome. Snape was surely not the favorite professor of any Hogwarts student but Draco had never hated him. With his dark clothes and pale face it looked like his head was floating in thin air. With a flick of Snape´s wand the torches were ablaze. _

_The sudden light blinded Draco so he shielded his eyes with his arm. Snape´s hand grabbed his arm like the claw of an eagle. Each finger was digging into his flesh. With his lips were set in a thin line Snape glared at him. _

Legilimens_. Those black eyes tore through his protection right away. _"Coward. Do you plan on hiding? You do not posses the power to do so. Concealment, protection spells and the kind of Dark Magic that makes it seem like you have been wiped from this earth."_, he pressed through gritted teeth. _

_"I…", Draco stammered but no words would make sense of what he had done. He had ruined everything. Not only his future but also the future of his parents. One act of bravery and all hopes of a good outcome were shattered. Roughly Snape pulled him along the corridor, down some stairs. _

_Confusion. That was neither the way back to the Slytherin common room nor to the Headmaster´s office. At both places he would be punished. Merlin knew that Draco would now prefer Dumbledore – the old fool. _

_He was guiding him out of the castle. How could that be? The double doors flew open in front of them and Draco looked into a stormy sky. _

No_. Too cruel. Would his teacher and known Death Eater make a game of chasing him? What irony would it be if he ended drowned in the lake? Frightened he ripped his arm out of Snape´s grasp. _

_"You are sick!", he spat into his face. His wand had not even fully touched his hand when Draco was already disarmed. _

_"Don´t make a fool of yourself, boy." Only the slightest movement of his wand and Draco was tossed into the cold evening storm. Panicking Draco crawled away. When he had hit the ground some dirt had got caught in his eye and he could barely see a thing. _

_Only the woods could be his rescue now. In there he could outrun Snape. Never had the distance between the castle and the trees seem so wide. He would never make it. His disadvantage of not having a wand was too oppressing. Snape would make sure that they never found his dead body. Resigning Draco took his time to catch his breath while Snape closed in on him. _

_There. Something hard and round under his hand. A rock. Fine, one last act of bravery, Draco. Focusing the last of his strength he tore the stone out and stormed for Snape. His roar of determination would have made any Gryffindor proud. Still it quickly found an end when he slumped to the ground._

Silence. It was the worst kind of torture.

For days there had not been any letters from either Harry or Ginny. Were no news bad news or good? Maybe Hermione was just too pessimistic about everything lately. The final tests of the year were approaching fast. Her friends must be very busy studying.

But who was she kidding? Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley starting this early with their preparations for a test?

No, never. That is what she would have done. But not them.

Still they had not written to her. What kept them from doing so? There was no information about any apparent danger to Hogwarts. But something must have happened. Something big. Something so big that they did not dare to let her know. It had to be something that would upset her. Or at least something her friends thought would upset her.

The weight of not knowing was so heavy on her that she had not bothered getting out of bed that morning. Ever since a ray of sunlight had awoken her from her dreams of worst case scenarios she had just laid there and stared at the ceiling. Her stomach was begging for food but she had no strength to move.

Was the Order hiding things from her?

In the worst case she had thought up Hogwarts was destroyed and everyone within dead. It would explain everything: Harry and Ginny no longer writing to her, Valy not appearing on her request, the Order members evading every of her questions.

She felt completely worn out. Her daily routine had gotten her nowhere and now this. The unshed tears of days made their way to the surface. A pillow served to silence her uncontrolled sobs. The Order should not hear her in her weakest moment. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to let all the misery sink in until she would burst.

Her sobbing became quicker and every breath became harder.

Was she having a panic attack?

She never had one but once in primary school one of her friends had had one. It felt like something heavy was sitting on her chest, chocking her. Sweat broke out all over her body and her heart was raicing so fast she was afraid it would break.

_Hermione Jean Granger, get yourself together. Your friends are fine. Valy is fine. Hogwarts is fine. You are fine. Steady breathing. You can do it._ Over and over she repeated those words in her mind until her breathing had gone back to normal.

She could no longer just stay here and do nothing. Flooing to Hogwarts and demanding answers from her friends was her only option now. It was foolish and dangerous but she could no longer wait for answers to her questions. The questions had to be given now and face to face.

The Order would not want to risk anybody finding out about her not so dead condition. First she would have to sneak some of the floo powder into one of the abandoned bed rooms. Getting it would be the hardest part for there was always someone in the kitchen. Steeling her nerves she wiped away any traces of tears and sat up in bed. She could do this. No, she _would_ do this. Slowly she first put one foot out of bed and then the other. Showing up in her pajamas at that hour of day was out of option.

She had to be prepared to go into battle. And a battle it would be. A battle against her own better judgment.

Sighing she stood ready at the top of the stairs. It was no use delaying it.

"Hello Hermione.", Mrs. Weasley boomed. "You look so pale are you not feeling good, dear?"

"I´m fine Mrs. Weasley, I just studied for too long yesterday evening. I will just grab a bite and then rest for a bit." Yet Mrs. Weasley let not get close to the refrigerator.

"A bite won´t do. No, you will have a proper meal. Look at how thin you have become." Like the full-blood mother she was Mrs. Weasley immediately began to pull forward pans and pots to create a meal that would leave her stuffed. Hermione did not feel like taking even one bite. She was sure she could not stomach any of it but while Mrs. Weasley had her back turned on her she could snatch some of the floo powder.

The clanking of the pots and pans made the kitchen a more comfortable and livelier place than it usually was. Since Hermione had not been downstairs for breakfast Mrs. Weasley prepared both breakfast and lunch for her.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley but I don´t think I can stomach all of this."

"I won´t hear any of this. Eat." No matter how loving Mrs. Weasley was when she said _eat_ it was like a general giving orders to his soldiers. Not to be disobeyed. Like the good girl she was Hermione forced spoon after spoon and fork after fork down until she could not take any more.

"See, now you look way healthier again, Hermione. Go on and take some of it up into your room for later. You sure can use a couple of extra pounds." With that she put together a plate of mixed dishes Hermione had not finished.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." She was already back out in the hallway again and hearing the portrait of the old Mrs. Black spit out all those hateful words when Mrs. Weasley shouted for her to wait.

"Dear me, now I almost forgot." She smeared her hands onto her apron and fiddled a small envelope out of her pocket.

"A letter arrived for you. It´s from Ginny I think." It was shocking and relieving at the same time. The long expected letter had finally arrived. At least from one of her friends.

All plans of going to Hogwarts had to be pushed back until she had read the letter. Oh what sweet bliss this small and crumpled envelope meant to Hermione. The sudden rush of happiness at the sight of the letter made her laugh out.

**I hope you liked this chapter and can live with the cliff hanger. I hope to reveal the secret in the next chapter. I´m still searching for a beta-reader and looking at all those options in the list given makes my head spin.**

**Your reviews mean a lot to me so please let me know what you think.**


	42. Chapter 42

**Author´s Note: so this time the first part is Hermione´s story in the present and the second what happened to Draco.**

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

42

Taking two steps at a time Hermione made her way to her room. The piece of parchment inside the envelope was small. At seeing just how little her friend at wrote her heart sank. This letter sure did not give answers to all her pressing questions. Her euphoria subdued Hermione sat down and read word by word.

Dear Hermione,

I know you have not heard from me for quite some time. Feel certain that I had good reasons to stay quiet for so long. To cut right to the important part: Draco Malfoy had been missing for days. It started with him not showing up for breakfast and his buddies Crabbe and Goyle being in a fouler mood than ever. This is what first made me suspicious but as the day went by neither Harry nor Ron saw him anywhere. He was simply gone, we could not even find him on the Marauder´s Map.

And just like he had vanished, he came back. All of a sudden. He looked haggard and shaken. But also determined. Something has happened and he is no longer the victim of Crabbe and Goyle. To me he still does not look to happy but better than after school had started again.

I cannot write anymore for I have the feeling that someone is spying on me. I´m so sorry for the short letter but I just had to let you know.

I try to write more soon. I PROMISE.

Your loving friend

Ginny

Draco was better from what Ginny had written but was that good or bad. Hermione had never forgotten about the rumor of him being a Death Eater. Had he finally taken his role? Still Hermione was glad she knew. She had been right, something had happened. About the matter with Draco she could not do anything. The only thing she could do was trust her friend Ginny to keep an eye out for him and keep her informed about changes.

Strangely, what worried Hermione the most was the fact that Ginny thought someone was spying her. Hogwarts was no longer safe. Not even with the protection of Dumbledore. That meant imminent danger to her friends.

This had to be her priority. This was something she could help her friends with. In the end all her research had not been for nothing.

The first problem she had to face was privacy. How could she communicate with her friends? Thanks to all those books she had read she did not have to mull over this problem for long.

The funny thing about this was that the Dark Lord himself inspired her for the solution.

A diary. Nothing suspicious about that. A lot of people kept one and there were some spare ones in Grimmauld Place.

She needed six. One for each of her friends – yes, even Ron would get one – and their counterparts for Hermione. The spell would prevent everyone not knowing the password from reading it. Of course she could not simply tell her friends the password but they would have to figure them out.

For Harry she branded a Hungarian Horntail on the leather cover. His password would be _Triwizard Tournament_. Ron got the crest of Bulgarian Quidditch team. It would only serve him right to have _Viktor Krum_ as his password. Ginny´s was the hardest. It should neither be too hard nor too easy to guess. Finally Hermione decided to brand a snake for the password basilisk_ – _this would hopefully also explain the diary´s purpose.

Having finished with those preparations she spoke several spells and curses to make sure the diaries would look completely ordinary. It was good that Mrs. Weasley had been adamant that Hermione took the plate of food. Now it gave her the energy to keep going and finish her task as soon as possible. Tomorrow morning Ginny, Harry and Ron would get their diaries. Hopefully they understood.

_After disarming the Whomping Willow Snape led the levitating unconscious body of Draco Malfoy in the secret tunnel connecting to the Shrieking Shack. Disappointment was his primary feeling. Still at the back of his head he kept in mind that someone was following him. This could be a problem but first he had to take care of a graver one. _

_Everything in the hut was covered in a thick layer of dust but he could not care less for the comfort and hygiene of his student. A fool like him had to suffer for his mistakes. Inhaling some dust would be the mildest form of punishment to come upon him. _

_Unceremonial he let the body drop onto the old bed. On each limb he put a binding spell so his prisoner would not be able to escape before he was done with him. _

_Having done so, he could finally turn his attention towards his pursuer. Pretending to leave he went back into the tunnel. There just in the darkest corner of the hallway he caught a glimpse of his next victim. _

_In the tunnel he waited for a minute and then apparated behind the door of the bedroom. Like he had thought, his pursuer had come in as soon as he was out of sight and now tried to free Draco Malfoy. His wand drawn, he stepped forward. _

_"Don´t move!", he commanded. Startled his opponent turned around. First the eyes were big and scared and then a small slit. A snarl escaped the small house elf standing on the bed. The little thing tried to protect Snape´s prisoner with its body. _

_"Stay away.", it hissed. With barely noticeable motions of his wand he the drape of the bed to encircle the elf´s foot. One moment the little creature hissed at him the next it was hanging upside down. _

_"Valy will protect Malfoy. Valy good elf. Valy rather die than let you touch him.", she shrieked and struggled wildly in the hold of the drape. Until the elf had calmed down Snape just stood there and looked appraisingly at the whole situation. _

_Fate had been in his favor. _

_"You want to help him?", he asked in his steady monotone voice. _

_"Valy _will _help him!" He pulled one end of his mouth up in a semi-smile. _

_"Fine." With this he let the elf drop onto the bed. "How do you plan on doing so? Because I guarantee you that getting him back to Hogwarts will only make things worse." _

_Lost Valy looked at Snape with her big round eyes. She placed her tiny hands on both sides of her head and shook it. "Valy not know." _

_Lowering his wand Snape stepped forward and held the elf´s face so she had to look at him. "He needs protection. The spells he does not know and he does not have time or opportunity to learn them in Hogwarts. Now, small elf, answer me one question and you will know how to help him: Who is not affected by Madam Pince´s spells to return books in time?", he said and let go of the elf. "I will be back." Valy was left dumbfounded. _

_Such a hard riddle. She could not wrap her head around the answer. For hours she kept pacing the room murmuring the question again and again as if the walls would whisper the answer. From pacing she went to crying and then to tearing pillows apart. Lying there among the feathers Valy stared at the ceiling and listened to the creaking noise of the wood. _

Who? Who? Who?

_Birds? _

_Snakes? _

_Her Mistress? _

_Merlin? _

_Frogs? _

_Cats? _

_Maybe, maybe, maybe. _

_Nonononononononono! All wrong! _

_"Valy not know! Valy not know! Not know! Valy … Valy … Vally.", she shouted out. When the last of her voice faded in her ear she sat up. _

_"Oh... _Valy_!"_

_House elves were not affected by the spell of Madam Pince. Concealment, protection and Dark Magic. That was what Valy remembered the man with the greasy hair and the hooked nose had said was needed._

_When Snape returned early in the morning the sun was tinting the whole area in a rose light. As he entered the room he was greeted with by an absurd sight. The elf was happily sitting on a pile of books and proudly holding one volume towards him. _

_"It´s Valy!", she squealed happily. _

_"A clever house elf. One would not belief it to be true.", he announced and began to rummage through the books. A lot were useless, definitely chosen only by the grisly look of the cover, but some were just the ones he had thought of. He divided the books in two stacks, disregarding all the useless ones and putting feathers between the pages he wanted his student to read. _

_He knew Draco Malfoy to be a talented wizard. Much smarter than most of his peers. Given the time and determination the boy would quickly acquire the needed knowledge._

**I hope none of you really believed that Snape would harm Draco. Chapter 43 is already in the making. **

**I really appreciate every review 3**


	43. Chapter 43

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

43

The owl had just left with the three parcels for her friends when Hermione noticed a strange scratching sound. It was coming from the attic. It was not like the light sound an animal made but more like footsteps. There was nothing in the attic so there was also no reason for anyone to be up there. Something was amiss and she wanted to know what.

After all now that she had sent the diaries she had not that much to do except wait. To be prepared for everything she drew her wand and tried to make as little noise as possible while she ascended the stairs. From one of the books she had read she had learned a spell that would radiate from the wand and push any opponent back. It was rather long and she had to think the words instead of simply speaking them.

As she heard a yelp, she knew it had worked. The yelp also gave her the direction of the intruder.

"Expelliarmus!", she cried out just to be safe. But there was no wand to be disarmed. It was her faithful house elf Valy.

"Valy!" Overjoyed she flung her arms around the elf. "I was so worried. Where have you been? I called you days ago." Valy clung so tightly to her that Hermione just held her closer as well.

"Valy do what Hermione say. Valy help Draco Malfoy. He was big trouble but now know spells. Is safe. Fine, fine, fine." Finally the house elf let go of Hermione and smiled brightly. "Come down and tell me everything."

In her room Hermione served tea to her beloved house elf. For an hour Hermione asked tons of questions and Valy tried to answer them as best as she could. The elf had not been able to come when Hermione had called for her.

First Valy had been occupied with helping Draco Malfoy and then she was held captive in Hogwart´s kitchen by Crabbe and Goyle with all the house elves. The two brutes had decided that Draco must still be within the castle. Without help he could not stay in hiding for long so after days of interrogating their fellow Slytherins and some other students they figured that Draco needed food, so they monitored the kitchen and the house elves. Hermione had not thought that Draco´s former friends could ever be that intelligent. She was a little impressed. But she was also mad at them because their sudden increase in brain cells had caused her so much worry. Still bygones were bygones.

"You will keep taking care of him, Valy?", Hermione asked before it was time to say goodbye again. "Yes, take good care, Valy does.", the house elf said and nodded her big head enthusiastically. Gently Hermione took the hands of Valy in hers.

"Your visit has brought great relief for me, Valy. But I should not have called you. Hogwarts is no longer a safe place and the enemy´s eyes are everywhere. I´m afraid we shall not see each other again until this has ended. One way or the other …" With her last sentence Hermione had created an awkward silence between them. Before vanishing into thin air Valy patted her cheek and gave her a reassuring smile.

When Hermione went to bed that night there were no thoughts about her friends, Hogwarts, the Order, useful spells, suspicious newspaper articles or barely escaping death on her mind. The only thing on her mind was that Draco was safe. There were still so many things to worry about but for once her brain allowed her to rest. To take refuge in the certainty that Draco Malfoy was safe. She wished that he was with her but after that Valy had told her she knew that a happy end was possible.

A warm feeling engulfed her and drew her into pleasant dreams. The first ones for a long time of nightmares.

_Without instructions from a teacher it was hard to learn all those spells. The drawings and descriptions of the wand movements were rarely precise enough. But Draco tried different angles. There was not much he could destroy in the shack that would matter so he practiced thoroughly and without regard for the furniture. The bed he needed the rest was of no importance and the floor was soon not only littered with stray feathers but also with chips of wood and crumbled pieces of stone. _

_Ever since Snape had awakened him and let him in on his plan, he was occupied with hiding himself. As soon as Draco could successfully hide from his mentor, he could return to Hogwarts. Still his own safety was not his most important concern. His actions had consequences. If he could not be found it did not mean that there would be no punishment. There were still his mother and father to worry about. _

_For now Crabbe and Goyle seemed to distract themselves with Blaise. But their play would soon shift into more serious torture. Draco could not let his friend take the blame for his wrongdoings. There was no escaping it. But at least he would be prepared to stand his ground this time. _

_He was not comfortable with a lot of spells and curses in the Dark Magic books that Snape had marked for him to learn. For a long time certain kind of Dark Magic was the line he had to cross to belong to the dark side. In his mind he had always stood on the dark side with one foot. After all he was born a Malfoy. The curses and spells meant protection. Still he was reluctant to learn them. _

_Only the thought about what the Death Eater were capable of doing made him realize that those measures were necessary. For when he returned to Hogwarts, he had formed different plans. The thing all those plans had in common was the goal: bringing his friends and family to safety. Thankfully it was not the first time the Dark Lord had risen and the first time the people had a very good means of escape. _

The Vanishing Cabinet_. For his plan to work he needed two. One he was quite sure was in the Room of Requirement. The description and drawing of a cabinet matched very well with the bulky thing he had seen when he had told on Potter and his friends in fifth year. The other one should be at his safe place. He had no idea where this should be. _

_Probably a muggle town or a very remote cottage. From what he read he figured that it might be possible to connect his cabinet with a random one. This might lead him straight into the arms of some muggle-born wizards. But Draco would rather take this chance than being ended by the Dark Lord. _

_After his short training sessions with Snape he would often discuss the matter of his family´s safety. The professor was his only link to the Dark Lord and his supporters. The fact that Draco had attacked his Death Eater friends had not gone unnoticed but the Dark Lord had not uttered one word about punishment yet. _

_That meant time for Draco but he could not postpone his return and escape forever. _

_The day had come. Today Draco would be able to successfully hide and duell his mentor. He was confident. He needed to be ready. Time was passing quickly and the Dark Lord would not show his kind side for much longer. _

_To demonstrate his skills he levitated mere centimeters above the floor. Snape should not be able to tell where he stood by a trampled and flat feather. Draco would float right in front of his nose, in the middle of the room – invisible of course. _

_All around and in the shack he had placed the variable spells and curses for protection he had mastered. Snape would have a hard time being able to enter the shack. With relish Draco was listening to Snape activating a couple of his more complicated traps. Still the professor made his way into the bedroom. His hair was disheveled and his face pale. One simple wand movement and Snape was disarmed and still not able to make out his position. _

_"Well done.", Snape ground out, glaring into the wrong direction. No longer able to keep his laughter in, Draco burst and became visible again. _

_"You will need those powers.", he said seriously."I am here to bring you bad news. _An ultimatum_." The face of his teacher was more severe and pale than ever. At the sound of his voice, Draco immediately stopped laughing. _

_"It´s best to share the memory with you.", he explained and held out his hand. _

_Draco had not learned Legilimens or Occlumency in the given time but he knew how to relax his mind. Legilimens could also be used to share memories with others. With this kind of Legilimens it was important that the partner did not build a protective wall around his thoughts but let himself be guided. If the partner did not do so, the memories could be forced upon him. This was very painful of course and could result in severe brain damage. It was riskier than using a Pensieve but they did not have one at no other choice he locked hands with his mentor.  
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_Snape was in Malfoy Manor. In front of the fireplace sat the Dark Lord. The light from behind gave his eyes a even more deadly and evil glint._

_ To the Lord´s right was Draco´s deranged aunt Bellatrix. Just like a cat wanting to be petted by her master she kneeled on the floor. _

_A number of Death eaters were seated around the long dining table. Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, his parents, Greyback, Snape and the rest Draco did not know by name. _

_"Draco Malfoy, that bloody traitor, had attacked our sons! This can no longer be unpunished, my Lord!", Mr. Goyle demanded and Crabbe emphasized it by slapping his meaty hand onto the table. Mrs. Malfoy winced at the violent act and looked at her husband for help. _

_Lucius Malfoy was paralyzed with fear – powerless, helpless, useless. _

_"Ssssssilence.", Voldemort hissed. "Ssseverus, where issss the boy?" _

_"Draco is nowhere to be found. Neither in the castle nor on the grounds, my lord. An investigation of the village will soon take place." The lips of the Dark Lord curved into his predator smile. _

_"It sssseemss the ssstudent hass sssurpasssssed the master." _

_Like on clue Bellatrix sprang up and shrieked: "Good-for-nothing. Loser. Failure. Shame for the whole wizarding race." Snape remained his calm demeanor and did not give Bellatrix´s outburst any attention. _

_"We will drag him from his little hiding spot and teach him a lesson.", Crabbe spat. _

_"Patience. I need you for other thingsss. But yess, thisss insssolent boy musssst be found. Two daysss time. Then we sssshall take measssures to make him come to usss." _

_At that very moment Nagini chose to reveal herself. Slowly the snake circle around Mrs. Malfoy before she moved onto the table. Narzissa trembled like a leave in a storm and hid her face at her husband´s shoulder. _

_Exhausted from the short memory Draco swayed backwards. "What will you do now?", Snape asked him in his cold voice. _

**In the next chapter I hope to conclude the story of what happened to Draco. Hope you liked this chapter. I liked the idea of Draco learning Occlumency one of you posted in the reviews but I think to fully master it you need time and a training partner. Both of which Draco does not have. Still I think Draco Malfoy would be a character to have less problems with learning it than Harry did. **

**I always appreciate your reviews.**


	44. Chapter 44

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

44

"_I can´t. I can´t", Draco kept repeating. This changed everything. None of his plans could work within two days. And by taking measures the Dark Lord had definitely meant to threaten his parents – probably kill them. Who could promise him that the Dark Lord would really wait those two days? Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle had shown very clearly just how keen they were on seeing Draco punished. It would be the same outcome so Draco would not waste any time and give himself up to Crabbe and Goyle. _

_"There´s not much for me to do, Professor. I´m returning to Hogwarts. My fate is sealed.", Draco said resigning. Still he would not crawl. He would face his judges with his head held high. It was not forgiveness he wanted but pardon for his parents. Everything he had done was purely his own fault and he would make sure that they knew. Those might be his last words but they would be heard. _

_Since there was nothing he needed in the shack, Draco simply made his way towards Hogwarts. It was too early for anyone to be around so he barely took precautions when he left the hole beneath the Whomping Willow. His former friends would be his prosecutors. _

_Right after he had shown his face in the Slytherin common room they took him hostage and dragged him towards the empty fireplace. _

_"You will regret what you´ve done.", Crabbe hissed and spat onto his face. Since Crabbe and Goyle had his hands locked he merely stared in front of him. There was no time to be wasted on those two idiots. For years he had thought them to be his friends. That assumption had turned out to be wrong. The green flames of flooing blinded him for a moment. _

_They had brought him to his home. Yet the place he saw was so different from his loved childhood home. The entrance hall was dark and gloomy. A filthy Death Eater with crooked teeth welcomed Crabbe and Goyle. _

_"The lost son has returned.", the man chuckled and led them towards the sitting room. There sat the Dark Lord in one grand chair, his loyal snake right beside him. Slowly Voldemort began to clap his hands. Flattered at having captured the traitor Crabbe and Goyle grinned like little children in a sweets shop. _

_"Come clossser, I want to have a good look at you, Draco.", he hissed. With a shove they let go of him. Draco quickly caught himself before falling to the ground and stepped closer to the frightening figure of his judge. _

_"Curssssing your friendssss. That isss not nice.", Voldemort lectured. _

_"They´ve never been my friends.", Draco replied steadily. _

_"Harsh wordssss. What should we do with you?" _

_"I am ready for any punishment. The things I have done are my wrongdoings and I will stand for them. I alone.", Draco declared and stood a little straighter. At that the Dark Lord laughed. Like the good dogs they were Crabbe and Goyle joined in. _

_"Punishment? An inssssulant act it ssssure wasss." _

Death.

_They would not just curse him into insanity. They would make an example of him. _

_Before his inner eye, Draco could already see it. A circle of Death Eaters around their garden pond, while Crabbe and Goyle would have a hand on each of his shoulders. On Voldemort´s signal they would drown him in the exact same pond his mudblood wife had died. He was a traitor and he would die like one. In the front row of this spectacle would be his parents. _

_His mother would be shrieking and crying, probably trying to help him. His paralyzed father would not move one muscle while the last breath of air was forced from his lungs. Mr. Goyle and Mr. Crabbe would whoop and encourage their sons. Obedient little soldiers they would become, his former friends … well they never were. _

_As long as he alone would be punished his death was a fair price for his parents´ safety. _

"_You have ssssuccessssssfully hid from one of my best Death Eaterssss. I have to acknowledge that, Draco. You have become a potent wizard." Was the Dark Lord praising him? Terrified of this turn of events Draco stared into those red eyes. At the stupidity of all their looks, Voldemort broke out in laughter again. What kind of mockery was this? Making fun of a man under sentence of death was tastless. But when had the Dark Lord ever cared about social conventions? Nauseated, Draco took a step back, almost a little afraid that insanity was contagious. _

_"It would be a wasssste. You have proven yoursssself, Draco. You have jussst the power I need." _

_"But…", Goyle objected. _

_"Sssssilence!", the Dark Lord shrieked and the two bullies bowed their heads. _

_"There issss ssssomething that neeedsss to be done in Hogwartsssss. You will get thisss asssssignment, Draco. Ssssnape will give you the insssstructionssss. If you ssssshould fail, I will think about punishment again." _

_Confused Goyle tried again:"My lord…" _

_"Leave now. Thossse two incapable maggotsssss will assssisssssst you." _

In Grimmauld Place Hermione was very pleased to find counterpart of Ginny´s diary glow after she returned from lunch. This meant her friend had figured out the password and read the instructions on how the diaries worked. Now it could not take much longer until Harry and Ron learned their passwords as well. Just like her friend Hermione spoke the password and opened the book. There it was, written in pink letters. Her friend´s message.

Dear Hermione,

you never cease to amaze me. Now that I got this nifty diary of yours I can keep you updated. When the diaries first arrived we were a little puzzled but we figured it would be some kind of help from you. Especially the fact that Ron would have ruined his by spilling ink over it, help us learn their true use. The ink vanished just like with ... _you know_. 

Can you let me know the passwords for Harry´s and Ron´s?

Now onto the main subject. Draco is back at the top with the Slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle seem to avoid him, but that can only be good news. He is still very pale. Mostly he sits in dark corners of the castle and looks into the distance, preoccupied with his thoughts. I guess accepting your death is very hard for him. I would have never thought that but now I think it is the only plausible expectation.

Harry is on his Snape-observing-trip again. Day and night. One might think the Marauder´s Map would turn ablaze by the intensity of his stares. He is hopeless.

How are things at Grimmauld Place?

Ginny

Hermione let her friend know the passwords for the two boys and described the situation in Grimmauld Place. It was pretty much the same every day anyways.

At a time that was probably just after Quidditch training, Ron wrote his first entry.

**VIKTOR KRUM?! HAHA, HERMIONE! SO FUNNY! **

It was the first and probably the last entry she would read in his diary. Harry took his time to write to her. It was late in the evening when his counterpart began glowing.

_Hello Hermione,_

_I know you think this is a safe method of communication but I still like to act with caution. _

_Although Snape is not leaving the castle I am sure he has something planned. Whatever Ginny might have told you, my accusations are not ungrounded. I still cannot prove anything but I know that with enough time and a little carelessness on Snape´s side I will catch him redhanded._

_Dumbledore summoned me today. It was about me accompanying him on a mission. He will give me the details tomorrow. _

_Someone is coming from the dorm room. I have to stop here._

_Harry_

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Voldemort is such an annoying character with all those ssssss. I have already started writing chapter 45 but since I will start working tomorrow again I cannot promise any soon updates.  
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**Since there have been some negative review (some of which seems to be deleted, but I always get a mail) I want to this space to comment on it. **

**Yes, I know the name is written NarCissa and not NarZissa in the original English books but I am German and therefore I will continue writing it my way. Especially since I think this is a small matter and can be left like it is. One different letter does not make it wrong in this case for me. **

**I have reread some of my earlier chapters and there are so many mistakes – especially with tenses and grammar – but right now I want to finish this. Maybe with more time and the help of a beta I can correct my mistakes. **

**Sometimes it is hard for me to translate my German idioms and phrases into English but I use a dictionary a lot ( ) and have to work with what seems most reasonable from the options given. So I really do apologies for that. I am still trying to get a beta-reader for my story but until then I do not want to postpone chapters (readers of this story from when I began know that I postponed too many chapters for too long). I owe those chapters to all the readers who suffer from my cliff hangers and want to know how things develop.**

**There have also been people who think my story lacks plot and ideas but I have the full story all in my head (still after all those years!) and hope to pick up any loose ends. Also I like to develop my characters, their relationship and everything else slowly. I have already read a number of fanfictions which had a great idea in mind but then the story went from finally no longer hating each other to kissing madly in a second. It just always seems to me that a lot of change in the relationship is missing. **

**Criticism is always welcome because it helps me become better for my readers. Also I get an insight of what you think of my story. If you have criticism for me please do not hesitate to let me know, but please explain your reasons why you do not like certain things. Otherwise I just have a sentence like "I do not like how you write Hermione and Draco" and am completely clueless as to why.**

**So please help me find a beta reader. I really want to make this story better. I might not always aim for perfect in my grammar and translation right now but I sure would like to try. **


	45. Chapter 45

**Author´s note: I added something in Harry´s letter at the end of Chapter 44. (11 January 2015)**

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

45

In the end all of Harry´s and Ginny´s efforts to keep an eye out for trouble proved useless. Harry had waited and waited to finally get to know what Snape was planning and Ginny had only made sure that Draco seemed to be better, look healthier.

Instead they should have put all their energy on what Draco was doing and where he was in the castle. Had they done that they would have noticed that he would vanish from the Marauder´s map every once in a while.

The Vanishing Cabinet had not been used for his escape but for the opposite. Day by day Draco had worked on repairing the cabinet. Just when school was about to end he had finally achieved his goal. Well not his but the Dark Lord´s. Death Eaters were roaming Hogwarts.

The real tragedy though had happened on the astronomy tower. Harry´s mission with Dumbledore was to destroy one of the Horcruxes. When they had returned from that ghastly cave Dumbledore was weak, barely able to stand. Heavy footsteps were approaching and Harry had barely made it into his safe hiding spot.

From there he had to watch every last bit of it. The Death Eater had urged Draco to finish the headmaster with the most Unforgivable. Yet he could not do it. He merely managed to disarm him. Snape finished the task in his stead. The sound of his mentor and friend hitting the ground from that fall haunted Harry for many nights.

The Order had taken measures immediately and made sure that all students returned to their parents at once. With both the Magistery of Magic and Hogwarts in the hands of Voldemort, many muggle-born and half-born wizards fled the country.

In his second rise of power the Dark Lord seemed to pass any limit of incredible ferocity. His fellowship had grown so rapidly that they were patrolling everywhere. If you had not fled the country early you found it harder to do so with every passing day. Everybody was terrified and it with so many already gone the Order´s power diminished.

Dumbledore´s rather peculiar heirlooms did not help them at all. How should they end this war with a children´s book, a snitch and a Deluminator. Those things were all worthless. In his final hours he had truly become mad, to burden them three with such an impossible duty. They were merely kids and would never fulfill his wishes.

There were no clues as to what the remaining Horcruxes should be. They could be anything from a handkerchief to a crown cork. And since the Dark Lord was not a foolish man he would definitely have the objects protected and scattered all over wizarding Endland … or the whole world for all they knew.

But first there was something else. Something everyone looked forward. A ray of light in those dark days. It would take place at the Burrow but unlike everyone else Hermione would not take part in the festivities. With so many people she could have easily drank Polyjuice Potion but she would not.

After hearing all those grisly things about Draco she did not feel like it. Everytime Ginny had written that he had fallen into his old habits, she had thought it was a façade. After all Valy had told her that he would be save. He had mastered all the spells he needed to no longer be tormented by Crabbe and Goyle.

Expecially one entry in the diary had made Hermione believe that he was well.

Dear Hermione,

today the strangest thing happened. Well, I am not even sure if you can call it something. But let´s start from the beginning. The Gryffindor Quidditch team had suffered under Harry´s relentless training again. All this suppressed aggression towards Snape was surfacing on the field.

Like so often I stayed behind and put away out equipment. Just when I turned the key of the locker room I had the strange feeling of a presence in the shadows. My feeling was not unfounded, for when I came around the corner of the field there he stood. 

Draco Malfoy.  
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I think he had really waited for me on purpose. He stepped right into my way. I stopped and waited for him to go away or at least say something. But all he did was stare at me. He had opened his mouth as if to say something. Instead he pressed his lips together, into a thin line, and stormed off. 

It was such a strange thing to do. I mean he had clearly taken the trouble to lure in the dark for me and then he simply walked away.

Seriously, Hermione, I do not know what to make of this incident.

Ginny

The letter was dated only a couple of days before the Death Eater invaded Hogwarts and Snape killed Dumbledore. With the dates being so close, Hermione was sure that Draco had wanted to warn Ginny. Maybe he wanted to ask for help. There were so many possibilities. All the things he could have wanted to say.

Still, for Hermione everything pointed to one conclusion: Draco was not on the dark side. At least not willingly. There was good in him. He could be saved.

But the life of one single wizard mattered little when so many lives were at risk. All those pursued muggle-borns and half-borns had to be the priority of the Order. This and destroying the remaining Horcroxes.

Had she not "died" things might have turned out differently. Hermione could have been the entrance ticket into the Order for the Malfoys … well maybe only Narzissa and Draco. Alone they stood no chance to gain protection if they did not seek out a member directly. Being seen with the enemy could mean their immediate execution by the Dark Lord. The risk was too grave.

Although the wedding did not end happily, it did bring a clue for Harry, Ron and Hermione. With the ruckus Victor Krum had made about Mr. Lovegood´s necklace, Harry´s attention had been drawn towards the slightly familiar symbol. This way Xenophilius had explained that the symbol was, unlike Krum´s accusations, not evil but the representation of the Deathly Hollows.

Wand. Stone. Cloak.

Just like the story in Hermione´s book. There Dumbledore had drawn the exact same symbol on top of the page. Maybe it was a hint for them that it was not a mere tale for children but the truth. It was not much but it was a start.

Since Hogwarts was invaded and there were so much more important things to be done Harry and Ron decided not to return to Hogwarts. Their number one priority was to find the find and destroy the Horcruxes.

The things Dumbledore had given them were surely meant to help them with this task. Harry was a hundred percent certain that Dumbledore had assigned this task to them by his choice of heirlooms.

They had stopped counting the days. For too long they had been on their journey to find the horcruxes. On the search and constantly on the run. Harry was the most wanted person in the whole wizarding Britain. The sum of money you could get for turning him in to the Dark Lord was very high. A great temptation even for the Dark Lord´s opponents.

Their best guess on the remaining Horcruxes was that those were items which had belonged to the founders of Hogwarts. Hogwarts was such an important point in Voldemort´s life and he had already chosen the locket of Slytherin for a Horcrux. The locket Harry had retrieved with Dumbledore that fateful day had turned out to be a fake.

The bad news broadcasted on the rebel radio wore all of them down and they began to be quite aggressive and on edge towards each other. Everyone was in a bad mood and the constant threat of Death Eaters catching them did not help.

At the beginning of their search Ron had made some advances towards Hermione but she had simply ignored him. They could not be together again. He had ruined it. She had moved on. Even if she could forget those blossoming feelings for Draco Malfoy, Hermione could not forget what Ron had done to her.

It was during one of their fights when it happened. They were just about to build up the camp for the night when some small issue escalated into a big argument. With all their screaming and shouting at each other they had not noticed people coming closer.

It had started between Harry and Ron. At first Hermione had tried to settle the dispute but then she just ended up telling them just how immature and stubborn both of them were.

Still this attitude saved her. After some minutes she had simply moved into the tent. Those two could quarrel as much as they wanted as long as she was left alone. Ron was the first to see the approaching men, then Hermione.

One second made all the difference. Before apparating to their save meeting point for cases like this she put a hex on Harry´s face.

She had cowered beneath a prickly bush for an hour when she finally accepted that her friends must have been captured.

**so I just used this chapter to establish what has roughly happened in my time jump. I do not want to retell all the things from the final book so I hope I will soon be abled to finish this story. Updates will not be frequent but I will try to update once a week.**

**I always love to read your thoughts in the comment. And thank you very much for the encouragement in response to my statement in the last chapter.**


	46. Chapter 46

Becoming Mrs. Malfoy

46

Harry´s face was swollen and unrecognizable. The two rogues had beaten them quite well before they transported them to the Dark Lord´s headquarters. Not that their punches had changed much about Harry´s hexed face. Hermione had done a good job.

They were dragged by the collar of their shirts into a big entrance hall. Every second of the way Harry was thinking of an escape plan but he had a feeling that they had been dragged into a highly guarded no-apparition area.

Seeing Bellatrix Lestrange in the entrance hall only made things worse. Being given to some random Death Eater Harry and Ron could handle. But now they had to face pure madness.

"Well, well, well. Look what you two have brought. A Weasley. The most abominable kind of wizard ever. Hair like fire.", she laughed at her own joke. "Maybe we should burn you in front of that ramshackle hut you call a home." Slowly she let her fingers wander through Ron´s hair until she pulled his head back. "One less Weasley. I bet nobody would notice. There are still enough of your sort.", she whispered with a wicked grin on her lips. With a snicker she let go of Ron and gave Harry a sideway glance.

"What do we have here? A little monster. Some horrible creature. Well, Dumbledore always had a thing for the outcasts." Hermione had hexed Harry´s face into unrecognizability but there was still one thing that would give him away so easily.

His scar. The one thing he was known for. The proof of the Dark Lord´s failure. Afraid that the scar might still be visible, Harry held his head bent down.

"A little shy your friend." Forcefully she grabbed his chin and looked him in the eyes. Bright green met dark brown. A hiss escaped Bellatrix´s mouth. "Interesting." With a couple of long strides she was at the base of the stairs.

"LUCIUS!", she screamed with that maddening high voice of hers. It was a sound like fingernails being drawn across a blackboard. Some kind of psychical pain shot through Harry´s body at the sound. Hurrying and tripping steps came closer until a haggard and pale figure appeared on the upper floor.

"Be-bellatrix", the man stuttered. While descending the stairs, Lucius Malfoy fidgeted nervously with his fingers. Once at the base of the stairs, Bellatrix grabbed her brother-in-law´s wrist and spun him around towards their new _guests_.

"The face, Lucius. Look at it. Familiar, isn´t it?", with an iron grip she squeezed Harry´s face. Confused and almost a little panicked Lucius Malfoy took a step back.

"I… I don´t know. M-m-might be." To Harry the once so superior man looked very shaken and ill. Not only physically but also mentally ill.

"Come on, Lucius. You´ve seen the _wonder boy_ often enough." Lucius flinched at the ferocity of Bellatrix´s shouts. "I … I´m not s-s-s-s-sure."

"Not sure?!" One second Bellatrix Lestrange was holding Harry´s face in a death grip the next she had lashed out at her brother-in-law. Where her claws had hit, angry red marks glowed on his face. Only the slight whimper of Lucius Malfoy nursing his face could be heard for some time. Then came silence.

The mad witch was clearly in bad fix. There she had Harry Potter –well,presumably- but still she could not dare to cause a great stir about it with the Dark Lord if it turned out to be a complete nobody. In her fury she pulled her hair and paced the room. Enraged she came to a halt right in front of Harry. Pure madness lay behind those eyes and Harry had to swallow hard. Slowly she bared her teeth. In one swift move she had turned around and was pointing her wand at Lucius Malfoy.

"I should rid you of those useless eyes." Immediately he fell to his knees and begged her for forgiveness. "Look at me you fool, so I can take aim. Wouldn´t want to lose an ear as well, now would you?" In a horrible attempt of defense he held out his hand in front of him to keep her at distance.

For once moment Harry thought the time stood still. Nobody moved in anticipation of what would happen. Still when he blinked again something unexpected happened.

"Draco!", Lucius Malfoy pressed out breathlessly. "I will go on to your worthless son soon enough.", Bellatrix spat.

"Nonononono." Desperately Lucius shook his head while still keeping it down. "He…he knows. He will recognize Potter." It took some time for Bellatrix to digest this piece of information but soon Harry was yanked down a long corridor.

The room he was shoved in next was bright with sunlight. He had to blink after the passage in the corridor. His eyes having adjusted, he looked around. He was in a vandalized living room. Pretty much every piece of furniture was turned over. A lot of books lay scattered on the floor. In front of a big window, Harry saw a familiar silhouette.

Draco Malfoy was standing there and stared into the garden. He did not bother to turn around at the noise of his visitors.

"_Draco_.", Bellatrix said the name like it would leave a bad taste on her tongue. A long sigh escaped him before he finally turned around. Endlessly tired. That was the first impression Harry had of his classmate.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, have I disturbed your weekend pleasures?", Bellatrix asked him with a voice dripping with irony. "She will not just magically awake from her grave and come back to you. Stare there as long as you like but it won´t change anything." A clear sign of hurt could be seen on Malfoy´s face as he turned back towards the garden longingly.

"So you have come to mock me, aunt. How thoughtful of you.", Draco said in an even, icy voice.

"Insolent child.", she hissed and whipped out her wand at him. With a gasp of pain he fell to the floor. In shock Harry had to watch while his former enemy suffered through the Cruciatus curse. When his muscles finally began to relax again, Bellatrix kicked Harry so he lay face to face with Draco.

"Simple question, Draco. Is this Potter or not? Answer quickly and I won´t have to repeat that.", Bellatrix threaten, the wand still ready to punish him again. Recognition showed in Draco´s eyes as he had a closer look at Harry but then he scowled.

With knitted eyebrows he looked up at his aunt and said: "That´s not Potter." The way he said it left no room for doubt. With a furious huff, Bellatrix stormed out of the room. Her shouts of frustration could be heard through the corridor.

Soon after she had left, a Death Eater brought Ron and sealed them into the room. They would be held captive there until they could be brought in front of the Dark Lord. Bellatrix´s assumption that they had caught Harry Potter was not destroyed, but no longer strong enough to trouble her leader with it. With Malfoy´s denial of Harry´s identity they had merely bought some time.

Draco Malfoy had helped them but apart from that he ignored them and went back to his place at the window. Harry and Ron turned a couch so that they could sit on it and began to discuss several escape plans. They had been doing so for quite some time when Draco interrupted them.

"There´s water and glasses over there, in case you are thirsty." When they ignored his remark he stepped closer to turn a armchair around. He pulled the armchair towards their couch and sat down.

"If there was any way of escaping this hell hole – believe me- you would not have met me here. No apparition. Death Eaters at every corner. Countless hexes all over the premises."

"Thanks for the pep talk, Malfoy.", Ron barked and crossed his arms. "What about a port key?", Harry asked. Draco took his time considering the question but in the end he shook his head.

"It might work but there is none in the Mans-." The sound of a piano playing in the next room disrupted him. It looked like the music was causing physical pain to Malfoy, so Harry raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Who is playing the piano?", Ron said as he turned around to face the door the tune was coming from.

"Nobody is. Make it stop.", Draco cringed at every word. "_Please_." The last word he pressed out as he pushed his hands over his ears, blocking out the melody. With a quizzical glance towards the door Harry got up.

Slowly he approached the door. It opened with a slight grating noise. This he saw was caused by countless shards on the floor. As the light from outside flooded the room he recognized it to be some kind of room used to train dancing. Before someone had rampaged inside the walls had been covered by huge mirrors. Since not all mirrors were broken completely he noticed that they were enchanted. The pieces showed Hermione dancing. A smile played around the corner of her mouth. In the corner he found the source of the piano music.

A muggle CD-player. Careful not to step on any shards, Harry turned off the music. Back in the living room, Draco was still pressing his hands onto his ears, wincing every once in a while. By placing his hands on his shoulders, Harry gave him a start and was met by shocked eyes.

"It´s over.", Harry said loud enough for even Malfoy to hear him. Visibly relieved Draco leaned back into the armchair.

"Thank you.", he let out with a sigh.

"You know that by pushing a button, you could have done the same. It´s a simple muggle device. I can show you if you want." The grey of Malfoy´s eyes reflected both sadness and fear.

"Not if it is hexed to play. I have already destroyed that thing dozens of times. It never stays silent for long." The way he said those words, made it sound like he had been traumatized that way. Harry would have asked about what had happened in the room but did not dare. Only then did he notice the many small scars on Malfoy´s hands.

"It´s not a nice prison." Draco had said it so quietly that Harry had hardly heard his words. Annoyed by Harry´s conversation Ron got up from the couch and walked towards a book shelf.

"So, you want to tell me that even with all these books, you could not find a way out of here. Hell, those were Hermione´s. She would know a way out." "Well, bad luck for us Ron. Hermione´s not here."

"Yeah, she got away." Although it had been an unintentional comment it was like a blow to the face for Draco. The uncaring way Ron had said it, like Hermione had had the better of it by dying. Ron did not realize his mistake but Harry had and he saw the hurt in Malfoy´s eyes.

Abruptly Draco got up and approached Ron, who was facing the shelf. He wanted to beat the crap out of this sorry excuse of a friend. How could he talk like this about her? They had been friends for years and now he seemed like he could not care less about her death. Just before Draco was about to raise his fist, he saw something in the corner of his eye.

A book. One of the books Snape had made him learn from. He stopped in his tracks.

"Books.", he gasped.

"Yeah. That´s what I said, Malfoy.", Ron remarked sarcastically.

"Shut it, Weasley.", Draco hissed and turned back towards Harry. "We can´t get out of here but that does not mean that nobody can. Valy!", Draco shouted. None of this made sense to Harry and so he just stared at Malfoy. "House elves. Apparition bans do not apply to their way of vanishing." Just as Draco had finished his sentence a small elf appeared out of nowhere. "Valy, I need your help. You have to get those two out of here." To speak with the small creature on eye level, Draco had gone down on his knee. After a moment of confusion, Ron and Harry quickly came to stand right next to the house elf.

She had already grasped their hands when Harry hesitated. "What about you? Come with us." With a look of pure sadness Draco shook his head.

"_I can´t_."

Before he could interpose anything anymore, Harry was whisked away by the pull of the elf vanishing with them.


End file.
